Blossoms Encounter Roses
by ScarletPetals
Summary: Whilst on a mission from Konoha, Sakura unexpectedly runs into Itachi on her way home. He captures her; but doesn't tell her the reasoning for it. What might Itachi possibly have in plan for Sakura?
1. Chapter 1: An Unforgettable Encounter

_Just like how I promised, This Chapter has been edited. Sorry for making you re-read it again, but it's all about the experience, right? :D_

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. That belongs to Masashi Kishimoto. I am merely borrowing its characters. This goes for all future Chapters.**_  
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**Blossoms Encounter Roses**

**Chapter 1  
- An Unforgettable Encounter**

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_Crunch. Crunch._ The faint sound of leaves crumbling beneath her feet barely reach her ears over the sound of her furiously pumping heartbeat. Sakura had gained a bit a speed, thus making a gap between her and _him_. Though, she knew it wasn't going to last for long. Sooner or later, he will catch up and she would be forced to fight. _'Just a little further...'_Sakura thought to herself as she ferociously sprinted through the forest of trees, wind blowing through her ruffled pink hair. At the speed she was going, Konoha was probably still a few hours away... Before she had finished that thought, a kunai had whizzed through those pink locks as she skidded to a complete halt.

With a sigh, Sakura realized that if she hadn't moved her head of an inch when she did, it would've been a fatal blow to her spinal cord. _'Shit.'_Quickly, she pivoted around to see her attacker.

There he stood, erect and almost as if it was a casual greeting between the two. His eyes bled of the deadly crimson with the fearful pitch black teardrops spinning wildly behind his overgrown black hair loosely caressed in a pony tail trailing down his back. His face closely resembling his younger brother's but yet, has its own unique structure with those recognizable crevasses beneath those hollow eyes. His cloak signifying the most notorious criminals to be feared of. She's seen him in the only family portrait ever taken with Sasuke attending it. He certainly looks older and more mature than he was 8 years ago.

"Uchiha Itachi." she spat. His reply was the same, simple monotone expressionless face that hasn't changed for years.

"I bet you're only after me because of Naruto, huh?" breaking the silence as she was trying to glance away from those deadly eyes.

"Hn."

"You're not one for words, are you? Well, I guess actions do speak more than words." as Sakura finished the last few words of her sentence, she had pulled out three kunai already aimed for his vital points. Before she had the chance to throw them, he had already disappeared and reappeared behind her, grappling her wrists together. The sudden shift in movement surprised her and caused Sakura to drop her weapons, gasping as they plunged to the red and orange floor of dead leaves. He had already pinned her to a tree, her face being lacerated by the bark roughened with age.

"Damn you.."

"Words cannot harm me, kunoichi." his last remark was returned with a snarl.

"Why are you chasing after me?" it came out as almost a pleading sound, which Sakura dismissed in pity.

"That is of no concern to you."

"Oh? It should be." while Itachi was slightly caught off guard, Sakura slipped through his fingers using a transportation jutsu, draining most of her chakra. Still panting heavily, Sakura leaned her back against a nearby tree, holding her chest. She had just _escaped_ the legendary Itachi Uchiha. Maybe the rumors were right, about his deteriorating eyesight. There weren't that many possibilities of why Itachi would ever want to capture her, though she could list a few.

Still panting, Sakura slid down to the trunk of the tree and somewhat fell down in a sitting position. She had used a lot more chakra than planned, even through those long-lasting chakra reserves. Why was Itachi here? Of all the people to meet when walking through these dense forests, why Itachi? To a complete stranger, he'd just be a world-class criminal known for being in the Akatsuki. Of course, they'd be scared out of their minds to encounter him, but to Sakura, his presence has a deeper meaning than that. He is the elder brother of her former teammate and first love. He's the one that had driven Sasuke mad. He's the one that caused Sasuke to leave the village and never return. He's the one that drove Naruto crazy to try to find Sasuke. He's the one that split apart Team 7. He's the one that **murdered his own family **with the exception of one. He's done so many countless crimes that almost makes it unbelievable that he used to be the loving older brother of Sasuke.

She couldn't forgive him. Not for what he's done and still doing to her teammates. Even though ever seeing him is rare, he's psychologically ruining their lives. She couldn't let this continue on any longer. Even if she could never win either Sasuke or Naruto in a fight, there were still the additional points of being a medic nin. She could paralyze someone in less than a few seconds, as long as the target was within the vicinity of the jutsu. If everything goes smoothly as planned, he shouldn't expect her to come from one of his blind sides and paralyze him. It is then that she will finish the job that Sasuke was never able to accomplish. Though, she has to keep in mind that she is attempting to sneak attack the legendary Akatsuki member.

Sneaking through the trees, Sakura spies for any chakra spikes in the forest. Carefully leaning against one of the thickest trees she could find, she looks to her left, right, and above her. There's no sign of anything, and it's too quiet. No birds are singing their daily song, no leaves are rustling with the wind, and there isn't a single snap of a twig-

_Poof!_ Suddenly, Sakura is surrounded by grey, cloudy, and blinding smoke. It's so dense that she can't tell where it came from, though instinctively, she starts to run. Before she gets far, she is suddenly pulled back by her wrists, and is forced to make an immediate stop. Faster than her brain could comprehend, she reached for her weapon pouch and pulled out a kunai which is quickly thrown in the direction that she was pulled back. Before she could pull out another, her free wrist becomes locked with the other behind her back. She is pinned back into yet, another tree with her cheeks painfully rubbing against the rough, dried out bark. Attempting to crane her neck to get a closer look at her pursuer, she spots that she _missed_ his heart, but it had left a shallow gash in his upper left arm. There's no way that this could possibly be _the _Itachi that she's been constantly told about. He's too sharp to be hit by someone of _her _caliber, as high as she may be.

Even if he may have been just recently hit, he still kept his calm, serious complexion, Sakura noticed. '_Of course, because Shinobi who were acknowledged into the ANBU were taught to never show emotion, as that is a sign of weakness._'

"There is no point in running. You are deprived of chakra." and those were the last words before he gently pushed her nerves located behind her neck, and everything went black.

The last thing Sakura remembered was the mission she was recently on. She had gone to a rural village somewhere in Lightning Country to deliver a message. After she was on her journey back, she had encountered Uchiha Itachi, of all people. As she was being relentlessly chased, she had noticed that whoever was pursuing her was much too clever to be a simple thief or bandit. By a good half hour, they would've either stopped and gave up or just plainly attacked using worthless knives and swords. With him, though, he had kept out of her line of sight through the whole chase, but close enough to catch up whenever he wanted to. _'That's right.. He could've caught up to me at anytime he wanted to, considering the range of speeds between us. Question is, why didn't he?'_

Slowly cracking open her eyelids only to be met with a faint, dim light. _'Cold. It's cold.'_ She brought her hands up to lightly tap her face with her slim fingers and she could feel the sudden change of her warm cheeks touched by those chilling fingers. '_I'm so tired._' She slowly slid up from her awkward position on the cold, cement floor. Immediately after she had gotten her head up, a wave of dizziness instantly hit her, almost knocking her back down to the floor again. It was the fact that she was in some unrecognizable place and that she should check herself to see if she's in decent condition before falling back into unconsciousness that kept her sitting up. Everything hurt. Her back was aching, and her wrists had faint blue-ish purple marks on them. She didn't realize that he had held her that tightly; but then again, it was probably out of adrenaline.

The kunoichi quickly scanned the room she had been incapacitated in. It consisted of practically nothing but a simple brick lined window which happened to be matted with bars. As she glanced at her dimmed surroundings, she noticed something around her neck. While craning her neck a little, which proved to be quite difficult, she grasped her hand lightly around the collar that had been on her neck for who-knows-how-long. It was of the purest white she had ever seen and possibly even glowed in this horrible lighting. It had one red orb right in the middle directly below her chin. As she continued to stare at it in confusion, a sounding knock came to the door.

Immediately looking up at the door, she felt a heavy presence leaning on it. Of course though, she knew who it was. Creaking, as the door opened, Itachi stood right by the door frame leaning ever so slightly, as if casual. He had a tray of who-knows-what in one hand, whilst the other hidden away in that deep crimson and black cloak. His eyes were gleaming of the scarlet sharingan ready to be used at any given moment.

"Your meal." it was simple, yet those 2 words strangely made Sakura breathe out in a deep sigh. He set it down so gently and gracefully on the cold cement floor that it had almost made her forget how he was the most dangerous criminal from her village. She stared at the unappealing food scraps that were sitting idly on the floor.

Itachi watched her sitting there as if she was going through the shock of her life. After a long silence, it was then that he decided that he did not have all day to wait for her to recognize the situation she was in.

"Eat. It is not poisoned as we are required to keep you sustained for some time." apparently that had shook her back into the room with him.

"..I'm not hungry."

"I do not care about your preferences of when you decide to eat. As of right now, you are our prisoner."

"What if I escaped and captured you as my prisoner?" without even thinking, a remark that could result in her death came out of her lips. Right after though, Sakura swore that she almost heard a chuckle behind that cloak. But, alas, it only lasted for probably half a second.

"Not possible, kunoichi."

"Oh? and why is that?" smirking as she replied.

"Because of that," pointing his dark purple fingernail to the pearl white collar that surrounded her neck.

"..What? What does it do?"

"To put it simply, it seals and absorbs your chakra. So there is no possible way of you besting me in a fight without your chakra." So that's why she felt so weak and deprived of energy.

"Take it off then!"

"Do you really take me as that unintelligent?" his face almost cringing into one of annoyance. Ignoring his question, Sakura glanced up and appeared to be trying to look out the window. _'Freedom.. even in Konoha, I didn't have freedom.'_

"..What?"

"What?"

"You said something about freedom."

"Oh." as she returned to looking back at the window blankly.

"Well, I do not have all day to wait for you to finish your meal."

"I thought I told you.."

"It is an order. You are required to eat."

"What if I don't..?"

"I will make you."

She pondered the thought of _the_ Itachi forcing her to gulp down that mystery of a.. what was that? Soup? She slightly giggled at the thought. '_Slightly_.' She reminded herself.

"Okay. Make me." without knowing the consequences of her words, Itachi quick and silent as ever, had her pinned down to the floor in less than a second, with him on top of her, clenching her already bruised wrists together once again. With one hand gripping her wrists, he took the spoon from the bowl and shoved the utensil into her mouth without a second's notice. She was facing him, back to the floor and her hands above her head with a _very_ surprised face. She couldn't believe that he had just pinned her to the ground like that, and in that _style_. She seriously thought that he was going to attempt _something else_. As these thoughts were coming to her head, she could feel the slight heat rush up to her cheeks as she stared at his chest. She slowly swallowed while trying her best not to look directly into his eyes. He was obviously amused from this as she gulped down that tasteless spoonful.

"Now, do I have to feed you forcefully spoonful by spoonful, or are you capable of eating on your own?" Sakura immediately rolled over and returned to her sitting position. She then picked up the bowl and began sipping the soup forcefully trying to finish it as soon as possible. It was practically heated water with unknown tasteless chunks and salt. When she was done, he took the tray and left, making sure to lock the door as loudly as possible. Obviously, she wouldn't run anywhere, she didn't even know where she was. Even if she did manage to escape the cage, there's no way she could possibly face Itachi in a state with deprived chakra levels.

Though, as she sat in the middle of the room with the bright white moonlight shining down on her staring at the window blankly, she was deep in thought of how all this happened to her so quickly. Just this late afternoon, she was casually returning home from a simple mission of delivering a message. Then.. everything happened so fast.. She discovered that she was being closely followed and picked up her speed a bit, not trying to make it noticeable that she noticed the intruder. He pursued her for roughly an hour, which she then hypothesized that whoever is following her isn't just some common bandit or thief. By that time, she really picked up her pace and began sprinting. Twisting and turning, she attempted to lose this pursuer, but whatever she did, it failed its purpose. He followed closely behind, but far enough that she couldn't see who it was.

Then, he unmasked his chakra. It was so threateningly powerful, that it had temporarily slowed down Sakura's pace because of how _dense _it was to just be in the vicinity of the attacker. Just as fast as he had unmasked his chakra, he masked it again, just like a vacuum sucking up its mess. Sakura nearly tripped over her own foot with the different changes in atmospheres in such little time. Before she knew it, the kunai that could've ended her life flew through her hair stopping her in her tracks.

The Haruno took a long sigh, before drooping down her posture and staring straight to the window again, where the eerie dim moonlight shone through the crossed bars along the window.

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_Knock. Knock. _The faint sound resonated throughout the empty space. Sakura could see herself standing inside a bland metal cage. '_Why is it so cold?' _As she shivered, slowly curling into a ball, she could feel the cage moving. It was being pulled by other cages suddenly surrounding her. '_Oh.. It's a line.'_ There, she could see blurred faces of all her teammates and elementary friends. Basically everyone she knew in Konoha. They were all caged up too. She noticed that she was near the back of the line, whereas all her teammates were probably at the back of the middle. The line stretched a long ways, and no matter how much she craned her neck, she could never see the front. '_What was everyone waiting for at the front?'_

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___Knock. Knock._ The sound came again. This time, louder than it was before. Sakura attempted to open her eyes, but failed, due to the lack of energy that's been sucked away from that chakra seal. So, she just left one eye cracked open at a minuscule amount. Carefully eyeing around, and almost being blinded from the strong rays of sunlight seeping through the cracks of the window. She lifted her head slowly and carefully because of her even more aching back from sleeping another night on the cold, cement floor. Sadly enough, because of this _stupid_ chakra sealer, she's unable to rid herself of this pain with her acknowledged skills as a medic nin. After getting more accustomed to the tense sensation all over her back, she glanced over to her wrists. They were an even more deeper shade of purple because of yesterday's incident. Sakura drew a pair of agitated brows together and decided that she could be strong and face this bit of pain in comparison to losing her life. Though, she really wished that they could at least let her heal her injuries, sad as they may be. '_No, I'm strong enough to fight the aching pain of my back and a couple bruised wrists._' Inner-Sakura cheered on.

Finally seeing the actual light of the day, Sakura is now able to examine this room of her's a bit closer. _'It really is practically empty space..' _It was a somewhat small square room which consisted of nothing but brick walls and cement floor. But, there was an addition to this room of hers today, a bucket. Now what in the world could this be for? It was then that Sakura sat there pondering all the possibilities that you could accomplish with a simple metal bucket. '_You could.. make a drum, or a seat, maybe even an awesome hat. Oh wait, you could be a robot! A highly unadvanced robot.. Though, I highly doubt that they would give me a bucket for those idiotic reasons.. What realistic reason could I **ever** use a bucket for?' _It was then that Sakura nearly gagged on her own vomit.

"I can't believe you expect me to use a bucket!" as he strode away, Itachi quietly chuckled to himself beneath his dark cloak.

"Ugh. There's no way I can do this." squatting next to it, Sakura eyed the simple metal bucket conspicuously, as she argued with herself whether or not to take the _chance_ to ask Itachi if she could possibly use an actual decent restroom. There's also the argument of whether to use the bucket, or not. Preferably, she hoped it would become the latter, though, it's not like she could just _go_ on the floor.. '_No! You may be a prisoner now, but you still have your dignity! Don't let something like that go down in the drains!' _Inner-Sakura was right. There's no way that someone of _her_ caliber could ever be known to have _gone_ in a bucket just because she was imprisoned.

As Itachi strolled through the dark hallways of his secret hide-out carrying yet another tray of mysterious food, he could faintly hear Sakura's cries of agitation. He reached her compartment finally, and the cries that became louder and louder suddenly dispersed. He knocked on the door twice, like a polite gentleman, before allowing himself inside.

"You're crazy if you think I'm actually going to use this." Sakura immediately announced having placed the bucket in front of her after he had entered. He walked in further, careful not to stir the full bowl of noodles sitting on the tray. She crossed her legs and arms and turned her head to face the wall, looking like a child who has not gotten what she wants. He silently set the tray down in front of her legs after he carried the bucket back to the corner and noticeably breathed out a long sigh, almost as if trying to erase all his stress.

"I suppose that I cannot force you to.. _use_ it, then." immediately Sakura's posture shot straight up and her face turned a pale white.

"I already said that I am not going to force you." after hearing those words, Sakura slumped back into her original slouch and took a deep breath and exhaled.

"Well? Where am I supposed to use the restroom now?", asked the recently relieved Sakura.

"I believe your answer lies in the corner." staring at Itachi, flabbergasted, she became amazed at how _thick_ his head was. Didn't he get the idea that there was no way that she was going to use that bucket as a restroom?

"W-what? I thought you already got the point that I'm not going to use that bucket as my toilet!"

"That does not mean I am going to go through the trouble of taking you to a restroom and-"

"What?! How in the world is that troublesome? I just go to the bathroom, in and out, right?"

"It would mean that I would have to keep close watch on you so you would not.. send a message through the latrine or anything of the sorts."

"Oh my god. You've got to be kidding me. Even if I did send a message, the water would probably make all the words unreadable. So your logic is flawed, Mr. Perfect." Finishing it with a smirk, Sakura became proud of her amazing abilities at studying situations.

"You are still my prisoner, I have nothing to trust you for."

"But you can't just keep me caged up like an animal! and plus, if I did use that cheap cylinder of a bucket, it would smell! You'd have to smell it too since you come here pretty often."

There was a long pause after that. Sakura figured that she's possibly won the argument, but still can't be sure of it. Itachi looked deep in thought as he thought about the consequences of making her use the bucket. _He _would have to clean it up.. There was no more trying to decide which choice after _that _thought.

"You are allowed 2 visits per day to the lavatory." With that, Itachi abruptly left the room, closing the door with a slight bit of annoyance slammed into it. '_YES!' _Inner-Sakura immediately starting cheering after he left.

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It was a tough feat, but Sakura had won her restroom privileges. It has been a few days after that incident, and everyday Itachi would come in the morning to let her use the lavatory. He would then come again in the early evening. It's become a regular schedule, but there are still things that are complete mysteries to Sakura. Like how Itachi _still _won't tell her his purposes of capturing her in the first place. '_This is ridiculous. It's not like I want to know why he wants me, but so far, it seems like capturing me has been pointless.'_ There's also the questionable part where she hasn't seen _any _other Akatsuki members come in. Of course, it's known world-wide that Itachi Uchiha, world class criminal, is a member of the Akatsuki. So why hasn't she seen any other members bring her food in, or take her to the restroom? Why is only Itachi? There are certainly many questions that Sakura has been wanting to ask, but most likely, only a select few will ever be answered. So she's decided that she shouldn't think about it too much as the answers to those will probably result in disappointment as they always do.

She wonders if Konoha is still doing well without her. _'Of course they'd still be fine.'_ It's not like Konoha would suddenly go into ruins if she suddenly disappeared. Sasuke couldn't even be considered a part of Konoha anymore, yet.. he still does have something to do with this since she is dealing with _his _brother and all. Though, Naruto, her best friend, might destroy Konoha into ruins if she disappeared.. Her lips curved slightly upwards at the thought. '_I wonder how Naruto and the others are doing without me.'_ Staring into the beautiful white moonlight, Sakura slowly drifted into a deep sleep, hoping to catch a glimpse of her last dream to find out what everyone was awaiting for.

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This time, Sakura had woken _before _Itachi did his daily morning knock. She became quite proud of that, mainly because he's always been the one to scare her awake every morning. Luckily, the sun was beaming down on her today through the window. It's always cold during the nights and early mornings because he didn't provide her with anything but the clothes on her body. She sat there enjoying the warmth of the sun for some time.

Lifting her head dazedly, she saw how dirty her beautiful pink locks have become. They looked beaten, bruised, and smelled like mold. It was horrifying to see them in such a state as this. Sakura knew though, how hard it would be to be allowed to leave this room and go clean up. She figured that during her bathroom break, she could use the sink to somewhat clean her hair.

_Knock. Knock. _Perfect timing. Itachi entered quietly with a few simple hand signals signifying that it means a trip to the restroom. He looked nonplussed for a brief second at the already-awake Sakura, but returned to his normal, plain serious complexion. Sakura followed intently as they walked through the dark halls engraved with stone. She noticed that the ceiling and the walls were completely covered in stone, which means that they were probably.. underground..? Why would they be underground? This brought another question to her already long list.

He gestured her to the lavatory door, which she took gratefully. As soon as she entered and locked the door, she quickly paced to the sink and looked into the filthy mirror. There she saw, a horrifyingly dirty girl. Her cheeks were so dirty that they appeared to be a brown in contrast to her normal pale-white skin. Her hair had visible specks of dirt scattered randomly all over the once gleaming pink locks. She also took notice of some fading away scratches that she obtained when in the struggle with Itachi on the first night. Attempting to pick out the noticeably larger clumps of dirt on her hair, she regretted ever taking something as little as a shower as something insignificant.

Twisting the handle on the faucet, Sakura waited for the water to flow through. Although she had already gotten used to the normal way the faucet works, (which is _very _slow) this isn't right. The water usually flows after three to five seconds after turning the handle, but it's been around twenty now. Worriedly, she walked back to the door where Itachi awaited to bring her back to her cell. Her face pressed on the rough wood of the door and called out, "Itachi?"

"Yes?"

"I think the water's broken."

"What?"

"Water won't come out of the faucet!" right after that, the door opened smoothly. Surprised, Sakura swore that she had locked that door, unless he's able to _pick locks?_ '_Man, this guy can do anything.'_ , Inner-Sakura commented.

Itachi strolled over to the faucet and fiddled with the handle. No water came out, and Sakura saw him squint his eyes a fraction before returning his gaze on her.

"Do you absolutely need water to use the restroom?"

"Do you know how unhygienic living in that room is?"

"Were you planning on taking a bath? because that is not possible-"

"Well, yeah. I've been meaning to ask you about that.." He paused to stare at her. Again, he squinted his eyes a minuscule amount as he eyed the current state her face and hair were in.

"Come. I will take you somewhere for you to.. clean yourself." an excited Sakura followed her captor intently through the long, twisting hallways after that.

"Where are you taking me?"

"Someplace where there will be enough sufficient water for you to bathe in." she didn't question why he said it that way, as she's already gotten used to his textbook quality choice of vocabulary.

While walking through the hallways, she tried to remember every stone in the wall as a unique rock to keep from becoming lost in this maze, but failed due to every rock looking practically the same. It felt as if they've been travelling a good half hour before Sakura noticed a bright light up ahead the path they were walking on. With each step, she anticipated the moment when she would be able to take a good look at the outside world once again.

**Okay, first-timer here! Tell me what you think. Truthfully, I have no idea where this story may turn to, so I'll probably end up editing after chapter 2 is out.. or something. Review so I'll know that ****_someone_**** read it and this isn't just a waste of time! :D**

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**_I've edited this chapter, because it didn't have enough emotional tension involved in it. Like, reader-character connections; so I added a bit of that hopefully! Sorry for the past readers for having to re-read this again. D: Made it longer too, for those readers that just LOVE reading long chapters. -hinthint,me,coughcough. I had also deleted Chapter 2 for revision for the few people who were there to read it while it was out there for probably an hour. ^^" I'm just the type of person who'd delete something right after it's been published; so be prepared if you're going to follow these chapters!_  
**


	2. Chapter 2: Underneath the Moonlight

**Blossoms Encounter Roses**

**Chapter 2**

**- Underneath the Moonlight**

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Nearing the end of her journey through the tiring and plain hallways, Sakura curiously looks forward to where the light shines brightly. At the exit, Sakura only catches a glimpse of pure green grasslands with trees toppling over it before everything before her becomes black. Though, she isn't unconscious.

"Wha-"

"Do not fear, it is only a blindfold."

"B-but why?"

"I cannot allow you to analyze where I am imprisoning you. Therefore, I will be taking you to our destination." before she could reply, her hand is suddenly taken by a pair of warm ones. '_Is.. is he **holding** my_ hand?' She had already suspected that he would do something like _this, _but she certainly didn't expect him to be _holding _her hand. She thought he would tie her to a leash or something, because he is just _that _anti-social. Quickly feeling the situation she's in, Sakura felt a faint blush reach her dirty cheeks. Hopefully, the filth would cover it up.

Once again, she has to walk a good distance before 'reaching the destination' as Itachi had so descriptively put it. It was a bit awkward because he had held _her _hand the whole time. He never let go or loosened his grip, though his grasp wasn't really that suffocating either. It pains her to think that she is forced to trust him, forced to trust him not to ram her into a tree, as that would probably be a form of amusement for him._  
_

They both walked silently as ever, and it wasn't the peaceful type of silence. As uncomfortable as Itachi may be, he knew that he would have to do this if she were to ever step outside the hide-out. His unevenly paced steps showed how tense he was to be _holding _her hand. It was an out of ordinary type of gesture for him, since he is used to the normal keep-to-himself day. Though, he truly wished that he was anywhere _but _here at this moment, he had no other way of guiding her to the nearby spring, and there was _no _way that he would _carry_ her there. Sure, it would be much easier since ever since he'd been guiding her through the twisting trees, the kunoichi had been constantly tripping over own feet.

Sakura tried to focus on her surroundings but had trouble walking on her feet, mainly because _he _kept on turning all over the place. This obviously confused her and she wondered if he's actually going to wherever he planned to take her, or if he's purposely trying to confuse her. Throughout the whole journey, Sakura awaited the one tree that would eventually smash her face because of the winding path Itachi's making her walk.

She suspected that they've been getting closer and closer because the faint sound of rushing water could be heard. He may have blindfolded her eyes, but she still had her other 4 senses. Suddenly, his hand slips away from hers, leaving it empty and cold.

"We have arrived." Itachi carefully slipped the blindfold from her eyes after his announcement. Sakura stared incredulously at the beautiful scenic landscape in front of her. There, stood a gleaming mini waterfall splashing water throughout the steaming spring. The spring is surrounded by calming red and orange trees slowly being stripped of their leaves by the whistling wind. Sakura stood with her mouth open to a recognizable 'O'.

"It.. It's so beautiful..!"

"It is the only nearby spring that I am aware of. You should be able to bathe with no interference." even if he phrased it in such a state-of-matter type of way, Sakura could tell that he was a bit proud of being able to find this amazing place.

"Okay.. well. Could you just.. while I go and bathe?" waving her hands nonchalantly around to show that he should leave before she takes her clothing off. He got the meaning and turned around and walked off into the jumble of trees.

A few moments passed before Sakura felt that it was safe enough to begin stripping down. Walking over to the edge of the spring, she could feel the heat radiating from the murky water. Quickly, she took off her clothing and enthusiastically jumped into the water. '_Aah. This feels so good._' chirped Inner-Sakura. Fighting the urge to fall asleep, Sakura roughly scrubbed the dirt off of her with her hands. She then plunged into the water and while holding her breath, she hurriedly combed out large morsels of dirt still attached to her hair and resurfaced gasping for air. Before long, the area that she had occupied had suddenly grown even more murkier with a hint of brown. Sakura took notice and moved to the other side amazed at how filthy she was. As she was nearly finishing bathing herself, she took notice of her discarded clothes on the side and figured that she'd have to wash those too.

Swimming to the edge, she reached for her pile of clothes and dragged them into the water with her, quickly scrubbing them together to get rid of loose dirt. After examining them, she decidedly throws them on the grassy floor to dry. She knows that she _should_ hang them up on a nearby tree branch to dry faster and thoroughly, but knowing that _Itachi _is somewhere out there, she's too afraid and lazy to come out of the refreshing, warm, spring water. As she began to relax in the radiating heat, Sakura slowly drooped her eyes little by little as time passed.

* * *

Itachi casually strolled through the vibrant trees towering over him. He had figured that he had been out here for roughly an hour and decided that the girl _should _be finished with her bath by now. Taking note of the beautiful scenery, Itachi decided that he will come here and bathe after he has escorted her back to her cell. As he ambled through the forest following the sound of the mini waterfall, he took notice of an almost eerie silence. The birds had stopped abruptly in the middle of their songs, and the leaves loudly rustled through the protruding branches. Eyeing the area in his vicinity, Itachi used a minuscule amount of chakra to detect any intruders. Everything seemed perfectly normal, and it is unlikely that there would be anyone out here-

There it was. He sensed a shinobi of somewhat high caliber heading towards where the spring was. How foolish, this shinobi didn't even bother to mask his chakra when out wandering through the forests. Since he's heading towards where the Haruno girl should be, Itachi figured that she should be able to fend for herself. Itachi returned to casually strolling through the woods-

_Wait. _ That chakra sealer. She _cannot _fend for herself. Itachi paused, breaking the even pacing of his walk. If she could not defend herself because of lack of chakra, then the shinobi will no doubt have the advantage, which would allow him the chance to kill her. This will not do, Itachi thought to himself. He _needed _her alive to be able to assist him in the near future.

Pacing quickly now, Itachi rushed over to the about-to-be intruded spring. The first thing he spotted was the blossom colored pink hair close to falling under the water. He then saw her scattered clothes nearby the idle body. The first thing that came to mind was to get her away from the spring as soon as possible. As he approached closer to the sleeping girl, it was then that he knew what he had to do which made him pause to figure how to do it. He needed her away from the spring, and he already expected her to be conscious, but that is not the case here. The last thing he needs is for the girl to be continuously annoying him with unnecessary questions, so there is an advantage to her being unconscious. There is still the question of _how_ though.

Itachi felt the gradually increasing pace of the other shinobi and decided that he did not have enough time to think this through. Without thinking, Itachi pulled Sakura out of the spring grasping his hands on her under-arms, _trying _not to look anywhere other than her bright pink head, and _trying _not to think about how warm she was. Before she was completely pulled out of the water, Itachi flung his cloak around her as not to cause anymore distractions. The girl was _still _sleeping, which the cause seems to be the case of 'passing out' from being in warm water for too long. Wrapping the cloak around her more tightly, he carried her _princess style, _which seemed to be the most efficient way of carrying her at the moment, he reminded himself.

He quickly drove his chakra to his feet and began to run at an even speed until he reached a deserted section of the forest where the trees were larger and the plants grew wildly. Itachi gracefully set her down so her back was leaning against a thick tree and where the grass and weeds grew taller than the rest. Possibly to hide her from onlookers who were just passing by. Quicker than it took to reach this place, Itachi returned to the spring to retrieve the girl's clothes, as there was no question to if he would allow her to wear _his _warm cloak. When he arrived, he noticed the other shinobi who paused to stare back at him. Itachi glared back at him with his deathly spinning sharingan. The man seemed to be extremely arrogant of his skills, as he obviously recognized who Itachi Uchiha was. Even without his intimidating cloak, he is still recognizable, being the select few who are able to activate the sharingan.

Itachi on the other hand, did not recognize this man, nor did he even give a care for who he was. To Itachi, this man is a threat to his prisoner, and he will not accept that.

"Ah, fancy meeting you here, Uchiha. I've heard quite a number of stories about you lately." keeping his dispassionate eyes locked on his target, Itachi replied with silence while loosening his former tense posture. The man attacked first, throwing 5 kunai in his direction. Itachi saw it all beforehand and dodged each one of them with little movement.

"Like how you were disowned from the Akatsuki, or did you quit?" Caught off guard, Itachi widened his eyes, surprised at how this man had gotten a hold of this information. Before he had time to think of how he acquired that knowledge, the man gripped his hands and his body moved with a pulling motion. Itachi was all too familiar with this common attack and jumped before he would get caught in the thin, deadly strings tied to each kunai. His ankle got caught in a string that Itachi had miscalculated.

"Tch." regretting losing his composure against the man's words, Itachi was immediately pulled down from the air and thrashed against the rough ground as the man smirked.

"Losing your touch, eh?" Quickly, Itachi attempted to cut the thin string with a kunai of his own, but failed because of how strong it turned out to be.

"Don't even try, you can't cut _my _strings. They're a part of my chakra too, y'know." the man announced proudly.

Scrunching up his eyes an infinitesimal amount, Itachi quickly took advantage of the situation. He pulled the chakra inflamed string that was attached to his leg and flung it to the other side without it grazing into his ankle. From there, he stood up and walked towards the pain-inflicted man. Shortening the distance between him and the shinobi, it allowed Itachi the extra string, which didn't pull on his ankle as it had. The man quickly got up as soon as he had been thrown and averaged the height of Itachi.

Before the man could make another remark, Itachi activated his Mangekyō Sharingan and the man quickly became engulfed in his own delusions and nightmares. He dropped to his knees first, then fell down completely, losing any sense of time he had. His face was craned to the side with his eyes bulging out from fear. When Itachi decided that it was enough to keep the shinobi shocked for some time, he swiftly cut the strings that were just ordinary thin vines of rope now. He hastily left the vicinity while carrying Sakura's wet clothes in search of the hopefully unconscious girl.

* * *

Sakura awoke to being in the middle of tall weeds burying her. Her neck ached and noticed that she had been leaning against a tree with her neck stretched downward. She found this to be all too confusing because she swore that she had just taken a quick nap at the spring-

'_My clothes.. Where are my clothes? W-why am I in the Akatsuki cloak..?_' Even if she was wearing the intimidating black and red cloak, it was satisfyingly warm. '_No. I shouldn't be thinking about **that **right now. I should be more worried about **why **this particular cloak is on me and why I don't have **any **clothes on! and I should be thinking about **why **I'm in the middle of an uninhabited section of the forest with no one around to explain anything to me!_' The worried and confused Sakura paced around stressing over matters such as this. She then found the benefits of being stranded here. '_If I'm not being watched.. that means that I'm free, right?_' It was then that Sakura briefly brushed against the hard, thick collar of the chakra sealer. '_Wait.. If I run away with this on, then that would mean that my chakra would be forever sealed..if Itachi's the only one who knows how to get this thing off of me._' Pale-stricken, Sakura returns to her spot leaning against the tree. She'll have to bribe him to have him take it off if she ever dreams of being free. Though, it won't be easy, mainly because of his hard-to-get-through type of personality.

After figuring out that part, she then turns to ask _why _she was left leaning against a tree in the middle of weeds. There were weeds that reached well over her head in sitting position, which could serve to.. hide her? The large tree trunk could serve the same purpose in a different kind of way. Why was she where she is, though? '_Ugh. Ever since being captured, all I've ever wanted to do was to ask the continuously growing number of questions-the questions that'll probably never be answered._' She could think of a few scenarios where it gave Itachi a reason to leave her out here. One, where he had just gotten plain annoyed of her constant nagging him about random things throughout the day, and left her here to die. She immediately crossed that one off her list, because why else would he put her here with _his_ prized cloak that he never took off? Two, he was being a pervert. There's no need to explain further why he would take her _naked _body to the middle of nowhere. Instantaneously, Sakura crossed that off her list as well. There's no way _the _Itachi would ever be interested in something as trivial as that when he has a plan of world domination. She couldn't even believe that a thought like that popped into her head, as she did a face palm. Three, something came up, and he couldn't be seen with her. She just _happened _to be asleep in the spring, therefore causing him to have to put his cloak on her and carrying her away from wherever it is that he'll meet someone or something. _That _seemed to be the most realistic reason by far. She decided on that one and then began theorizing.

If he _didn't _want her around where she was, then that means that he would've confronted whoever it was at the springs. He probably left her here, knowing that she was unconscious because of the heat from the springs, _and_ he probably thought that she wouldn't wake up before he returned. '_Well you thought wrong, oh-so-perfect Itachi._'

After fixing the cloak on herself, making sure that it was completely buttoned up and her arms were actually _through _the sleeves, she patted the loose dirt off of herself and set to find the springs and possibly catch a glimpse of what Itachi was dealing with. As that might answer some of her questions. Problem is, is that she didn't know where she was in the first place. After a good half hour, she finally heard the faint sound of water splashing into more water. Expeditiously, she started running towards the recognizable noise.

* * *

It was roughly an hour before Itachi finally reached where he had left her. He had been so caught up in getting her away from the springs and getting back to it to confront the shinobi that he barely remembered the trail back to this place. Luckily, through that useful photographic memory of his, he faintly remembered the exact path that he had taken to get to the overgrown meadow. Now that he had reached it, he found no unconscious body._  
_

What? This is not right. He specifically remembered leaving her here against that exact tree in those exact weeds. He could even see the imprint that she had left while sitting there idle. Now, question is, where is she? He was obviously agitated from this, because apart from his normal, collected personality, he did not like being the one to ask questions. He would rather be the one who knows all the answers, as that keeps him feeling secure. Now, he does not know where in the world she could be, and this aggravates him uncomfortably. He knows that if he searches frantically and without reason, then it would just be for nothing as that does no good. The only other place that Sakura is familiar with, would be where the springs are situated at.

He pivoted around and turned back to the direction of where the springs lay. Once again bringing a minimal amount of chakra to his feet, he bolted towards the springs and quickly disappeared through the cluster of trees.

* * *

Sakura appeared, cautiously hiding behind one of the farther away trees, but close enough to be able to see the springs clearly. The heat radiating from those murky waters tempted her yet again, but she stopped in her path when she spotted a body. Although he was face-down and on the floor, Sakura noticed that he had an over-average build and carried weapons on him. She then theorized that he must have been a shinobi, but why was he unconscious? As quick as she had asked the question, she answered it as well. '_Itachi.._'

Expecting him to unconscious, she approached him cautiously, making sure not to wake him up. In less than a minute, she stood nearly a foot away from him, inspecting him carefully. Before she knew what happened, she suddenly felt a tight grip on her left ankle and was yanked to the ground. The man was now obviously awake and she was now in serious danger. He seemed to take her as an enemy as he glared at her with furious eyes.

"Oh? Are you the new replacement for the Akatsuki? You're a lot weaker than I thought you were, but you're cute, so that makes up for it." he laughed hysterically.

Sakura had no idea what he was blabbering about, but she distinctly remembered him saying something about being a _replacement. _'_What? Replacement? What is that supposed to mean?_' Trying to take hold of the situation, Sakura attempted to loosen his grip on her ankle with her nails, as she had no other weapon. Her chakra was sealed and she didn't have any kunai or shuriken. She felt just so _weak _at that moment. It reminded her of the days she trained with Team 7 while she was still a genin. She remembered how whenever she was in danger, Naruto or Sasuke would come and protect her. Now, she didn't have anybody to come save her, and she couldn't defend herself.

"Too bad I'll have to kill you." he smirked. "You'll have to pay for what your little _partner _did to me since he ran off." he slowly pulled out a gleaming kunai aimed for her heart. '_I guess t__his is the end.. It's such a pathetic way to die though._' she laughed to herself in pity. As the kunai gained distance between it and her heart, she shut her eyes, not wanting to see herself covered in blood during her last moments.

_Klang! _The familiar sound of metal against metal shook her eyes open. The kunai that the man was just recently holding had been thrown back a couple yards. Confused, Sakura turned her head around and spotted her savior. He had a cold glare in his crimson eyes with his onyx hair bellowing in the direction of the autumn breeze. His posture was tense and his arm was still in the position of when he threw that kunai, saving her life.

"Release her. She is innocent and weak. Battle me if you wish to settle the dispute between us." '**_Innocent _**_and_ _**weak**?! I wouldn't be so innocent and weak if you took this chakra sealer off of me!_' having been hit in her pride, Sakura then stared back at the man who still had his hand strangling her ankle. He released her right after and yelled back, "Alright then! A battle you want, a battle it'll be!" '_Clearly resembling arrogance even after his last fight with Itachi_', commented Inner-Sakura.

Kicking her off to the side, the man then bombarded Itachi with a good 10 or 15 kunai, which Itachi dodged perfectly without fail. The man thinking that if he had caught Itachi in his 'strings of doom' as he called it himself, he can do it again. Utterly mistaken, Itachi swerved off to the side closing the distance between him and the shinobi and also escaping the vicinity of where the strings would have captured him. Quicker than quick, Itachi used his body flicker technique which had temporarily stunned Sakura in their first confrontation, and appeared directly behind the unaware shinobi. While still in the air, he moved his hands with such speed it was impossible to see what animal characters he used in the jutsu. Before she knew it, Itachi blew the recognizable orange and red glowing flames of the famous Uchiha mark, the katon goukakyuu no jutsu, engulfing the arrogant man in a hot, burning sensation. Sakura could clearly hear his agonizing shriek fade away through the life-like blazing flames as she sat there mesmerized by the flare of fire.

Itachi ambled over to where Sakura sat with eyes wide open. He examined her briefly for any serious injuries, did not locate any, and asked her for confirmation, "Are you alright?"

Still dazed, Sakura turned her head upward to face Itachi's and faintly replied in a whisper, "..Y-yeah."

"Then let us return to the cave." out of his pocket, he pulled out the blindfold that had originally surprised Sakura, but now as she glances at it, she takes it with sincerity. After having unwillingly watched a brutal murder, she just wants to shut herself away from the world. He took her hand graciously and began to walk slowly with each step, knowing how tense the incident must have made her. Silently, they walked with no conversation throughout the forest with the sunset blazing brightly through the beautiful fall leaves. As they walked, Sakura was silent as ever, not asking any questions or starting a conversation, which was out of the ordinary for her. This upset Itachi greatly, though he did not know why. Before long, Itachi could spot the dark hole leading to the underground cave and slowed his pace down. The only sound that could be heard was the crunching of leaves beneath their feet with each step. He planned to start something along the lines of, 'Here are your clothes,' because it didn't show that he was _slightly _worried about her metal health, and it gave him the chance for him to think of something else to say while she changed-

"I-Itachi?" He stopped in his tracks, his name clearly resonating through his head in her voice.

"Yes?"

"..Thank you.." it came out in such a soft whisper that it had almost escaped his ears.

"Pardon?"

"You.. you saved my life. If you hadn't been there when you had.." she abruptly stopped walking, having thoughts of her dead, lifeless body lying next to the spring soaked in a puddle of her own blood. Without thinking, Itachi replied, "You are safe with me." all the while, he gave Sakura's hand a tighter squeeze to make her feel at least a bit more secure with him. They continued walking, as they both appreciated the now calm silence that resonated throughout the now dark forest with brightly lit stars lining the dark blue skies.

It was when they reached her current stone confinement that Itachi had slipped the blindfold off of her emerald eyes. They blinked a few times, as Itachi noticed something that glittered in the moonlight as it slid down her rosy cheeks. They were _tears._ He for one, has seen them millions of times throughout his lifetime, but to see this strong-willed girl crying.. It was discomforting. As soon as he saw them, he felt something drop to the pit of his stomach.

Lifting his hand, he wiped away those tears delicately with his thumb, while his other fingers caressed her warm pink cheeks. As soon as he felt that the tears were receding, he gently deposited her clothes on the brick window sill, before turning around and began to walk towards the door. It was until he felt something tug at the back of his shirt that he paused.

"Don't go... please." her voice came out as a hoarse whisper, and was soon consumed with sniffles. Craning his neck, Itachi saw how distressed she was, with her brows furrowed together and her head leaned downwards. He turned around once again, and gently took her cold hands as he lowered her to sit down. She looked up at him with a look of confusion as tears streamed out of those gleaming emerald eyes. He then lowered himself as well and sat down with her, leaning against the hard, cold wall. Then he combed his firm hands through that pink hair and lightly pressed her head against his reverberating chest. Her cries softened little by little as time passed by in that position.

It was nearly midnight that Sakura had slowly fallen asleep, listening intently to Itachi's beating heart, without noticing how uneven it was. Strangely, Itachi now found this to be comforting. He could barely remember the last time that he had embraced someone like this, and it was around 9 years ago. 9 years ago.. before he was commanded to assassinate his own family. He tipped his head upward to look at the brightly shining beautiful moonlight flooding through the window frame before inhaling and exhaling a deep breath and glancing back at the lowered pink head. This is one of the few times that had given him a feeling of security and peace, he contemplated._  
_

* * *

**Okay, here it is! Chapter 2! :D It ended up being a lot shorter than Chapter 1.. T~T I tried to make their relationship a lot closer in this one, hopefully I'm not going too fast. As I wrote the story, random thoughts kept popping up in my head, so this chapter was pretty much made through improvising. Please review! I'll take both negative and positive ones just because they both help me improve in my work. :D **


	3. Chapter 3: Dreams and Nightmares

**Blossoms Encounter Roses**

**Chapter 3**

**- Dreams and Nightmares**

* * *

_'Warm. It's so warm and cozy. And soft.. am I dreaming?_' Sakura opened her eyes only to be welcomed by bright light streaming through the window. She sat upright in her bed, closing her eyes once again and taking in the calm, quiet, and peaceful morning. It was only disturbed by the noisy annoying ringing sound that only her alarm was capable of.

"9 o' clock already?!" She hurriedly ripped the sheets off and began skimming through her closet, finding her signature red vest, black short tights, and tan skirt. Undressing in a rush, she nearly tripped over her clothes as she pulled her pajama pants off.

"Agh! Tsunade's gonna kill me for being late again!" Grabbing a slice of toast smeared with a spoonful of strawberry jelly, Sakura bolted out the door. As she sprinted towards the hospital, something stopped her in her path. Almost immediately, Sakura recognized that dim blonde-orange hair with his signature orange and black jumpsuit. It was Naruto, which Sakura gratefully exhaled a sigh. It felt like she hasn't seen him in _forever._ Reaching out her arms in a friendly manner, Sakura jumped towards him, enveloping him in a bear-hug.

Before she knew what was happening, a piercing shock of pain went through her back, leaving her to yelp an agonizing scream.

"W-what..?!" Her best friend, glared at her menacingly as if she were an enemy. Tilting her head back, she could see blood. _Her _blood. It flowed freely from her back, engulfing the black blade of the kunai.

"Naruto.. What.." She became weaker and weaker because of the immense blood loss caused by the sharp kunai embedded inside her back. She was dizzy, confused, and most of all, scared to death. '_What..? What's going on? Why is this happening?_' Before she fell to unconsciousness, she distinctly remembered him confronting her even closer and whispered inside her ear.

"_Because you're a traitor, Sakura_."

* * *

Her eyes snapped open immediately and she could feel cold sweat surrounding her body. There she lay, in the stone cell, enveloped inside a warm, comforting cloth. Wrapping it even tighter around her, she looked around for any sign of blood or discarded kunais. Exhaling her held breath, she relaxed her tense posture and leaned back onto something soft and warm, which happened to be just the _opposite _of the normal cold hard stone wall. Hastily looking beside her, she saw Itachi, casually leaning against the wall in sitting position with his eyes closed, taking deep breaths as he slept. '_What? I don't remember-_'

She had thought that last night was all a dream, though. When she pleaded that he stay with her, she didn't actually expect him to stay here the whole night. It's not like she didn't want him here, but considering his normal personality, it was unlike him to be seen embracing someone. She had to thank him for staying with her though.. it made her feel secure and safe throughout the night. When she had first awoken, she barely noticed that the position that they were both in, but when she did, it made her feel ashamed as her face gradually turned into a bright red.

She had her head lodged firmly between his shoulders and collarbone, and her hands were _cuddling _him, with one spread over his chest, while the other tucked into the cloak. Thinking about it just makes her face heat up, and she could feel the blood rushing to her head. Though, as ashamed as she was, she took notice of Itachi's muscular arm that hung loosely around her shoulders, which kept her from escaping from his grasp. '_Not that I'd want to.._' Inner-Sakura commented, which then Sakura comically slapped her for saying unnecessary things.

Taking a closer look at her captor while she had the chance, Sakura carefully tilted her head upwards, as not to wake the sleeping _beauty._ He really was gorgeous. She supposed it was because of his Uchiha blood in him that made him so handsome with his overgrown onyx locks that hung loosely, almost covering his long sooty eyelashes. As he deeply inhaled and exhaled, Sakura took notice of his smoothly toned muscles that he usually hid underneath his cloak that she now wore. _Slightly _jealous of her captor's beauty, Sakura then took notice of the situation she was in. She was _still _enveloped inside his warmth, not having moved an inch from their former position.

Slowly lifting his limp arm, she crawled out of his embrace and returned to where her discarded clothes lay. She padded them lightly, feeling if they were still damp from the brief wash she gave them. They seemed dry enough after having been put where the sunlight easily reached. Looking back over at the sleeping Itachi, she then started to unbutton the surprisingly warm and soft cloak. Before dropping the cloak completely to the floor, she hurriedly slipped on her black tights and skirt.

Whilst having trouble with the zipper to her vest for a second, she heard a voice clearly displaying that he was awake. '_But I was so sure that he was asleep-_'

"You are quite bold, kunoichi." Her face turned to a bright red furiously glowing as she slowly turned around to face him. She saw the edges of his lips curve upwards into a slight smirk as he pointed that dark purple fingernail at her. Questioningly, Sakura just stares at him until he explains his actions.

"I believe that you have forgotten something." Looking down at herself, Sakura immediately took notice of the fact that she faced him with her zipper hanging loosely near the bottom of the vest. Instantaneously right after, you could clearly hear a _zip! _sound as Sakura's face turned into an even deeper shade of red. Breaking the awkward silence, Itachi slowly stood up, carefully taking his time, and abruptly left the room. The old, wooden door shut with a simple _click._ Sakura stared agape at his blunt take-off.

* * *

Itachi casually ambled through the dark corridors only lit by the small flames eating away at the stake which were placed at even gaps between each one. He paused and turned swiftly into a dark room which he lit easily with a simple blow of his own flare. Placing the candle on the edge of the table, he gathered some vegetables and meats from some nearby cupboards. He then pulled out a giant pot and filled it with cold water that flowed freely from the faucet that came from his personal supply. Placing it on a metal stand, he then heat up the wood embers underneath it with another small breath of his katon. As the water gradually became steamy above the crackling flames, Itachi busily chopped the vegetables and carefully sliced the chicken into smaller chunks. Noticeably, the water began to boil soon after, and he scraped them into the pot. Occasionally, he added some mysterious seasoning from one of the hidden cupboards in the corner.

As soon as it was done, he swiftly blew the dying flames out and carried the pot to the table. From there, he poured exact amounts into two bowls. Added a wooden spoon in each one, and then placed one onto the tray, ready to be carried out.

Depositing the tray in one hand, he opened the door and disappeared into the dark, winding hallways.

* * *

It had been around fifteen minutes that Sakura sighed and plopped down onto the Akatsuki cloak with a conspicuous frown on her face. It didn't seem like Itachi was going to return from wherever he ran off to in such a rush. At least this gave her time to think more clearly about the recent events that had occurred.

Nothing made sense. Taking the most important parts out and placing them together, it really made no sense. First, Itachi captured her, appearing out of nowhere. He hasn't even given a _hint _to what he might possibly have in plan. Second, he's been keeping her captive for probably.. a week? She lost count after 4, sadly. _Still, _there hasn't been anything that gave way to _why _he has her imprisoned. There hasn't been any advantages he has for keeping her, she's actually been a _burden _to him_. _Like when he was forced to fight that other shinobi to save her life. It was because of _her._ Oh, that's right. He _saved _her life. That must mean that she is needed _alive. _There's three. Four, she faintly remembered that the shinobi had said something about her being a _replacement _when she was wearing the Akatsuki cloak. What did that mean exactly? Even Sakura, throughout all her extensive knowledge, she kept on pondering on what that could imply. She determined that it would have to mean that one of the Akatsuki had either quit themselves or been discarded in some way that they would have to find a replacement. '_But who?_' It would seem to be that Itachi is still part of the Akatsuki, but with all this upcoming information.. she isn't so sure anymore. '_He has to be! This cloak that you're sitting on clearly signifies his allegiance to that horrible group._' Having doubt in Inner-Sakura, she sat with her brows furrowed deep in thought.

* * *

_Knock. Knock. _Ceasing her train of thoughts as the door to her confinement opened, Itachi seemed like he had peeked his head through the doorway before entering. Carrying the all-too-familiar tray of food, he walked in silently, taking note of his prisoner sitting on _his _cloak. She saw him eyeing her temporary cushion at the moment, and quickly jumped off while patting all the loose dirt off of it before handing it to him. Surprisingly, he refused her offer with the swipe of one hand.

"I do not require it, as the nights can become cold here." He gently set the tray down once again on the stone floor. Astonished at his indirect kindness, she accepted his cloak gratefully as she hugged it closer to her chest.

"Thank you.." His lips curved upward for only a fraction of a second before returning to his expressionless façade.

Suddenly smelling the aroma of something delicious, Sakura looked in front of her feet to find a bowl of _not _unknown contents. She could clearly recognize it as chicken noodle soup; just without the noodles. Collapsing onto her knees, Sakura grasped the bowl into her hands and took a closer inspection to try and spot anything suspicious, as this was out of the ordinary for Itachi to bring over.

"Did you make this..?" were the first words to escape out of her mouth as she took another whiff of the familiar scent.

"I decided to take matters into my own hands when the instant soups and noodles appeared to be tasteless." '_Woah, what? Did he just say **instant**_** noodles**?'

"Y-you mean that all the other meals were-"

"Artificial? Yes." _and _she had thought that _he _made those bland soups. Now looking at his _actual _creation, Sakura stared amazed at the steamy concoction held within her hands. Lightly grasping the wooden spoon between her fingers, she gently blew away the steam visibly floating up through the chilling cold air. One sip of the soup caused Sakura's eyes to widen a bit as she noted Itachi's amazing cooking skills. '_He really can do everything.._'

"This is good." she admitted as a faint blush reached its way up to her cheeks. Sipping it delightfully, Sakura savored every mouthful as if she didn't know when he would ever make something with his own hands again. Seeing her enjoying his homemade soup, Itachi turned around and walked out of the room, shutting the door so quietly that she barely heard him leave.

* * *

Standing outside of the door as he briefly paused there for a moment, Itachi felt his hard cold steel exterior being broken bit by bit from the inside out. It was probably only because she simply reminded him of his little brother, he reminded himself. He quickly regained his cold composure and strode with each step echoing throughout the eerily dim corridors.

Finally, he reached _his _personal room which happened to be under disguise as just another stone wall, exactly alike the others. Slipping his elongated fingers into one of the many cracks in between the bricks, he swiftly slid open the heavy sliding door. The room inside was already dimly lit by a slowly melting candle that sat on the edge of his neatly organized desk. It was a rather long and spacious room, but short height-wise, as it was hidden underground. Perfect for _his_ height, though. On each side of the walls stood bookshelves that stood until the tops touched the ceiling. Amazingly, they were filled to the brim with scrolls, books, papers, and anything of the sorts, organized down to the last slip of paper. Every single bookshelf was polished and dust-free, even in this underground chamber.

Itachi strolled over to his eerie desk that sat conspicuously in the middle of the room, facing towards the concealed sliding door. He sat down abruptly and let a loud sigh escape. Combing his hand through that silky soft raven hair, Itachi started intently at the single document that lay in the center of his long, dark ebony desk.

**Uchiha Itachi,**

**You are hereby disowned from the Akatsuki.**

**Years of serving the Akatsuki has caused us to believe in your deception. We have recorded proof of your deceit to this organization. Any and all classified information that is transferred to the public on the organization's whereabouts will lead us to suspect you. You and any others who have knowledge of information regarding certain topics will be hunted down and killed on sight.**

**If the proof that we have acquired is a fraud, you are welcome to prove your faithfulness.**

**Until then,**

**Farewell.**

**Sincerely,**

**The Akatsuki**

After the word Akatsuki, there lay a scarlet puddle of dried wax representing the symbol signifying the organization's blood red clouds engraved on each cloak. Below the words printed in bold, were some obvious scriptures written by hand. They differed from a sharp dark blue pen to a dull gray pencil. It even had some words written in a thick green marker.

In the sharp blue pen, it said:

_Wow. I can't believe that this is happening. I mean, I always knew that you were mysterious and I always suspected you of something, but I didn't think that it went this far. Too bad I never really got the chance to surpass you and your stupid perfectness. Since you're not coming back probably, I'll admit it. You've always ticked me off for just existing, but maybe that was because I was a.. little jealous. You being perfect at everything you do made me mad. Though, I'm not ashamed of my own skills. Of course I still believe that explosives are **much** more beautiful and capture the real sense of art. Anyways, I guess this is an indirect type of goodbye. Not like I'd attend your farewell party anyway._

_D._

Next came the fat, dull pencil:

**_This is a surprise. I certainly didn't expect this outta you. All of us have done a bunch of crimes before, but I still can't believe that they'd kick you out for something like this. It's gonna be lonely out here, now that you're gone. Even though you really didn't talk to me much.. It was fun. I'm gonna miss you kid. Hope you make something useful of your life other than your lifelong plan of having your brother kill you. I might as well tell you now since I probably won't ever see you again. Personally, I think that is the most stupid way to plan your death. No, it's stupid to even be planning your death this early in life. Oh well, do what you want. Just a heads up, there's a lot more to life than just awaiting your death._**

**_K._**

Lastly, came the thick green marker. Fat, green splotches were found surrounding the simple sentence.

**ITACHI, I'M GOING TO MISS YOU SO MUCH ! ! **

**T**

Once again, Itachi read that same document, everyday ever since he had received it. That fateful day, no one had accompanied him as he walked away from the headquarters with his cloak blowing in the wind. He supposed that Pein hadn't notified the other members of his demotion from the organization, as they acted just as normal. It was until a few days later that he had received this unforgettable letter through animal summons. They had found his location faster than he had perceived. This letter was received sometime around early June. It is near the end of October now. Amazing how time passes by so quickly, Itachi contemplated.

After being kicked out of the Akatsuki, Itachi then began accepting high classed jobs perfect for skills of his caliber. Quickly, he made enough to support himself for some time. During the period of when he was dismissed, he was constantly deep in thought with a wrinkle between his brows. This had _not _gone according to plan. Stress kept on building over him deepening the already distinct creases on either side of his nose.

Hopefully, Madara had not planned anything against Konoha during his time of absence. The second he was out of the picture, Itachi knew that the reincarnated Uchiha would arrange a way to obtain Sasuke. Although he isn't physically inside the Akatsuki headquarters, Itachi was still keeping a close watch over it. So far, no moves have been made that could be crucial in the capturing of Sasuke. A sigh of relief left him as he sank slightly deeper into his chair. It worried him slightly though. Maybe his investigations were incorrect. Maybe Madara had already done what he had been planning for years. Maybe Sasuke was already in his hands. Eyes narrowed and brows furrowed, Itachi tried to keep his mind off of that certain topic, but it was nearly impossible.

He glanced at the clock that hung loosely from a nearby bookshelf and decided that it was _time_. He grabbed a thick dark blue vest that hung on one of the hooks that was embedded into the wall. After searching for a few seconds, he pulled out a pair of pitch black gloves from one of the drawers inside his desk. Putting his attire on, he left the room and made sure to slide the disguised door into place, leaving his shinobi headband with a reminiscent slash through his village symbol atop his dark ebony desk, lit with a single candle.

* * *

Dazedly lifting her suddenly heavy eyelids, Sakura found herself lying on the dirt floor with her pink hair in visible tangles. Elevating herself up off the ground, she saw droplets of crimson drip into the large dark puddle beneath her feet. Staggering and trying to keep her feet stable through the waves of dizziness, Sakura bent her arm in an awkward position so she could hold the section in which she was stabbed in to try and stop the bleeding, even a minuscule amount. She attempted to gather the faint pulse of chakra to her hands but failed for some reason. '_It's like.. it's.. blocked. How could it be blocked?_' Sweat streamed down her face as she concentrated harder, figuring that she wasn't focusing enough. A few moments passed as she stared into her empty palm soaked in her own blood. _Nothing._ How could this be? I know I'm capable of sending chakra throughout my limbs, I'm actually _famous _for it. Discarding her futile attempt, she limped towards a dark alley where it would be safer than being in plain sight.

She slid down the brick wall, leaving large smears of blood wherever she touched. The blood was _still _flowing and she was losing more and more of it. She could feel herself growing colder and colder. At this point, if she didn't get help soon, she would fall into unconsciousness and probably die from blood loss. '_At least I wouldn't feel it.._' Now, reduced to loud panting and gasping, she looked hastily around to find anyone who could help her. After a few minutes of searching, she spotted the familiar whip of pale blonde tied in a tight ponytail and the matching purple top and skirt. Hurriedly, Sakura called out her name sounding more desperate than ever.

"Ino..!" In a flick of a moment, she turned her long ponytail around and looked around to see who had called her name. Once again, Sakura mustered up all the strength that she had left to yelp her name.

"Ino, I'm.. over.. here...help.." Losing her range of focus, Sakura stayed conscious for a little longer only to see her best friend grimace in repulsion as she edged closer to the desperate, beat up girl.

"_Disgusting. I can't believe you came back_."

* * *

Her eyes flew open, cold sweat obvious on her pale white face. Her breath came out as a raspy pant as she stayed curled up in a ball against the cold hard wall. She hugged herself tighter as she looked around the room hastily. Spying the bland, dim stone room surrounding her, she slowed her breaths slightly. When she had calmed down a bit, she took notice of things that weren't where she left them when she had fallen asleep. The empty bowl and tray that had been left in the middle of the room was gone. '_Itachi must have taken it while I was asleep._' That one wasn't hard to figure out. When she was suddenly awaken by the incident in her nightmare, she had distinctly remembered that she had left the Akatsuki cloak scattered somewhere in the corner of the room. Now it was on top of her, wrapped warmly around her cold body. '_But.. Why would Itachi care?_'

It was comforting to know that there was _someone _here and she wasn't alone. She hated that feeling. _Alone. __An outcast. _ It reminded her of the days when she played by herself on the playgrounds. When she covered her forehead. When she was constantly bullied. It reminded her of how _weak _she really was on the inside. No matter how much she trains her body, she's still _weak_. No matter how much she may seem like an enthusiastic, happy girl on the outside, she's still the same timid, shy girl that she always has been. Her life was a lie. _It's all a lie. I'm just hiding behind a mask. A mask that's slowly cracking into pieces._

* * *

Itachi calmly walked out of the building engulfed in his own flames. Screams for help could be heard, but it was located in such a rural region that no one was there to assist them. Now looking back at his committed crime of killing somewhat innocent people, Itachi continued his even pace towards the pristine cottage of which his next job lay.

* * *

Eyes wide open, Sakura decided that she would do her best _not _to fall asleep. She didn't want to go through another one of her nightmares. _Soaked in my own blood. The dagger that dripped crimson embedded in my back. The strangling feeling of being abandoned. To be kicked to the side. Outcast. Alone._

"Stop!" screaming, she shut her eyes and blocked her ears, curling into a ball. She held that position for a few moments until she felt a pair of warm hands gently come down onto her shoulders.

Looking up through her shining emerald eyes, she saw Itachi stare intently at her disheveled self. She probably looked like a hopeless mess to him, with her tangled hair and dirt that covered her rosy cheeks. She could feel the tears a moment away from flooding out. She didn't think that she would become so emotionally shattered from just being away from Konoha for this little time. She's been on missions for far more longer periods of times than this, and everything had been just fine. Why is she suddenly breaking down? Why is she having all these nightmares?

He turned his head downward towards his feet as he seemed to be fumbling with something inside his pocket. Moments later, he pulled out something warm and fluffy. She knew this, because he had pressed it to her face and began wiping away the thin layer of dirt that had taken refuge on her face. Surprised at his sudden gesture, Sakura sat on the floor without seemingly wanting to move a muscle. He had wiped her face to try to match the same cleanliness she had when she had first emerged out of those springs, though it really wasn't _nearly _as flawless as it had been.

"You are welcome to use this if I am not able to escort you to the restroom." He offered her to take the black damp towel, and she took it gladly.

"I'm.. sorry, and thank you." He quirked one eyebrow up, showing a somewhat nonplussed expression.

"..For my sudden outbreaks, sometimes I just don't know what I'm saying or doing and I just react without-" a hand shot up in front of her, causing her to stop in the middle of her sentence.

"It is quite alright." A slight smile reached her bright pink cheeks that almost matched the shade of her hair as she pulled her head towards the ground. She shivered as she gathered the comforting cloak around her tighter. '_It must be night already. I can't go to sleep. No. I mustn't._' Remembering her nightmares, she was _afraid _of going to sleep. She was _afraid _of dying by the hands of her childhood friends. It _scared _her to the point where she rocked back and forth trying to remind herself that this wasn't reality. It was horrifying. Her former light pink cheeks suddenly turned pale and her eyes widened. Staring into space, Sakura could already feel the cold chilling blade of the kunai slice into her back. '_No, no no no no,_'

"No!" Once again, she covered her ears and shut her eyes so tightly that they were bound to create wrinkles in the future. _Scared _to go back to her past. _Scared _to be harmed by her loved ones. Even she considered herself _weak._ She could barely feel the hot tears flow out of her reddened eyes as she pressed her palms to cover her face. She could feel herself _whimpering, _yet, she couldn't do anything to stop it now. As much as she tried to control herself, she already felt the dam that kept her feelings in check crash to the ground. Though, it wasn't clear to _even _her to why she was crying.

'Maybe_ it was because of the nightmares that kept on appearing every time I fall asleep. Maybe it was because of that day I had watched a heartless murder._' She didn't know. Maybe she didn't _want _to know. All she wanted was to hang onto someone. All she wanted was for someone to _care. _ All she wanted was to feel _important_ in someone else's life. Even for a moment, that was probably all that she ever wanted but didn't deserve.

Itachi watched her dismissively as she cried, drowning herself in tears. Without comprehending his actions, he put a firm hand on her back, possibly to calm her down. He didn't know why he did it. Was he perchance feeling empathy for this girl? She looked up at him with her now reddish eyes, clashing with her normal, clear emerald ones. Before he knew it, he found himself beside her _once _again, head pressed against his shoulder breathing in deep sighs between sniffles. He didn't find it to be uncomfortable, surprisingly. When he was still a member of the Akatsuki, he distinctly remembered himself rejecting all displays of affection towards him. Even if he was simply an onlooker passing by an especially doting couple, he could feel a slight shiver run down his back.

This however, was _different,_ he told himself. It was only because Sakura had merely reminded him of the days when Sasuke looked up to _him._ Seeing her in such a distraught state had certainly activated something inside of him that still cared for his younger brother. He silently awaited the moment when her cries softened and she fell into a deep sleep. By that time, it was already in the dead of midnight, but the contractor had not stated that it mattered what time the job was completed. Slowly escaping her limp body and gently lay her down on the ground with the cloak covering as much as it could, he contemplated how calm she looked in comparison to how fatigued she was hours ago. Though, he could still spot the faint dark circles beneath her eyes which worried him ever so slightly. He left the room and headed in the direction of his own.

* * *

"Ino.. why..?" Sakura pleaded to her best friend as she lay in the dark alley beside towering walls bleeding to death. Her head was lying flat against the ground because of her lack of strength to support herself. Before her eyes gave up on her, she saw Ino walking towards her and lift her leg up as if she were kicking away a pest. Closing her eyes, Sakura awaited the excruciating pain that she would feel when her foot landed squarely with her head. It never came. The only thing that came was bright yellow light seeping through her droopy eyelids. As consciousness slipped back into her, she opened her eyes a fraction of an inch. Everything was blurry before her eyes, but she could distinctly feel herself as if she was floating because she couldn't feel the ground. It was a bit bumpy, though. '_Strange.._' Before clearing her eyes, she heard a voice, "I assume that you are awake."

Looking up through blurry vision, she saw her savior. Through the blinding sunlight, she couldn't see his face clearly, but she noted his long onyx colored flowing hair that rested atop his broad shoulders. He leaned his head closer to hers and whispered, "Are you alright?"

'_Strange.. Why do those words seem so.. familiar?_'

* * *

**Finally. Chapter 3 is finished. Man, sometimes High School can hit you in the face. Like a brick. Made out of homework. I don't even know what I'm blabbering about anymore. Anyways, hopefully this chapter cleared some questions and created new ones. I know, I'm totally twisting the story plot now, and I completely didn't expect it myself when I wrote this. Random thoughts just come to me while I write. It's also because there are so many amazing Itachi & Sakura Fanfics out there that I decided to change the story a bit. c; Hopefully this keeps you interested. I promise that the REAL action starts next chapter. The reason why he's keeping her captive should be cleared up in the upcoming chapter also. I'm probably also sticking an OC or two in there, so you might see unfamiliar names. Review/alert/favorite/whatever to get my attention. It keeps me inspired to keep on writing. :D You're also welcome to guess what might happen through reviews. I'm interested in hearing what my readers have in mind for these two. hehe.**


	4. Chapter 4: Lost Siblings

_**Warning:** Any medical context in here is probably not true. I completely made most of it up with a little bit of background research through Google. I'm not a doctor so don't expect my reasoning to be logical. I might also fry your brain with blabbering nonsense to you about viral diseases._

* * *

**Blossoms Encounter Roses**

**Chapter 4**

**- Lost Siblings**

* * *

Suddenly she is awoken from her seemingly calming dream by a loud raspy voice outside of her door. Curling into a ball and pressing herself against the wall, she felt the voice becoming louder and louder. Through the ragged breathing, she could hear loud coughing sounds that echoed throughout the hallways. It seemed to pause at the exterior of the door as she heard sounds that only the lock could make. Whoever it was, they fumbled with the lock for quite some time and all the while, Sakura could hear her heartbeat pump so loudly that she was sure whoever was on the other side could hear it. Green eyes widened and her skin a pale-white, Sakura shivered as she anticipated the frightening figure that would break into this room at any moment. Looking to the floor, she saw some liquid substance flowing underneath the door of such a dark red that it almost appeared black..

_Bam! _ The door was flung open so harshly that it hit the wall that held its hinges. The first thing that Sakura spotted was the familiar dark crimson color in a small pool located outside the door frame. As she stared agape at this mysterious presence she could have sworn that she heard the rumbling of thunder and a flash of lightning. Before she knew it, she heard the familiar pitter patter of harshly pounding rain outside even if that was her last priority to concentrate on right now.

She managed a closer look at this intruder, and saw his beautiful onyx locks drenched in the dark rose color. Though, his hair wasn't the only thing soaked in blood. His former pristine face had visible thin scratches while his body had rather large gashes still bleeding throughout him. Even seeing him in this disarrayed self, she couldn't see if he had any internal injuries but she was sure that he had more than a few in this state. He looked so helpless at this point.

Staggering, he limped over towards her letting his ragged breathing escape. Before he reached her, something rose to his throat, choking him as he coughed a puddle of blood that splattered everywhere on the floor and startled her. Suddenly, his crushed ankle gave up on him and he abruptly collapsed. He expected to crash and fall onto the hard stone floor but found himself in someone's soft, comforting hands. Tilting his head upward, he spotted the reassuring blossom pink hair that hung loosely, briefly touching his numbed face. He caught the brief glints that appeared in her mesmerizing emerald eyes, even as scared as they looked now. Using the rest of his strength, he lifted his hand slowly towards the pearl white sealer that rested loosely on her neck. With a simple hand seal, the red orb in the middle made a distinct cracking sound as the whole thing crumbled into a thousand glistening pieces.

She didn't know why, she didn't know how, but before she knew what happened, she found herself holding him as if she was holding onto the last strands of life. His bleeding, disheveled self brought worry to her expressions as she stared into his darkened, fading coal eyes. He stared just as intently back at her, slowly moving his lips trying to form words as he had somehow lost his voice.

"_Run_." is the single word that his lips motioned before he slowly closed those charcoal eyes. Lost for words, Sakura stared at his idle state as if she was frozen in time.

Forcing herself out of her petrified state, she took hold of the situation by pulling him out of the way of the door in case any enemies were to pass by. She lifted her hand and felt for the missing chakra sealer that she had gotten used to. Her neck felt so cold and naked now, but she felt her chakra levels gradually seeping back into her, making her feel more energized than ever. Though, they were still dangerously low. She looked back at Itachi's body and she exhaled a deep breath as she saw his chest slightly rise and fall. Why did a sudden wave of relief wash over her when she saw that he was still alive? She didn't know, and she didn't have time to think about that right now.

Even if he worded her to _run,_ she couldn't. Not after all that he's done for her. She couldn't just leave him here to die while she ran to safety. Sure, he may have been the most notorious criminal in the history of Konoha, but he still had a heart. He still feels the same things that any normal person would, and right now, all she could think about was how to save him. He deserved to be saved, only because he had done the same for her. The reason he told her to run away after he released her from his grasp was probably only because he didn't expect to _live_ after this. He didn't do it because she could _heal_ him, even if he knew that she could. He did out of self sacrifice. This was something that she could never bring herself to do. No matter how much she may love someone, no matter how close she is to that person, she could never sacrifice her own life for someone else's. Yet, she is someone that he barely even knows and he has risked his life for hers more than once.

Now, it's her chance to save _him._ She had the right education to do it. She had her chakra back. Putting a determined face on, she stared at his injuries intently to see which one was in the most critical state. After a few moments she decided that the one almost splitting his chest in half would be it, as it was still flowing with fresh blood. Gingerly lifting her hands over his blood-soaked chest, she forced a faint green glow to appear. She focused her chakra to keep stable as it worked tying the seams of broken tissues and skin back together. In mere moments, the deep gash splitting his chest disappeared leaving no scar. Sighing as sweat rolled down her rosy cheeks, the work was still not finished.

She moved down his body to his legs and inspected the deep cuts and his fractured ankle. She fixed the torn ligaments and nervous tissues in his legs without much thought. Turning him over slightly so she could examine his spinal cord, she noticed severely torn nervous tissues when she concentrated her chakra to see internal damage. Using as little chakra as she possibly could, she stitched them up, but it wasn't done perfectly. She fixed them enough so that she could return to healing them at a later time. As for now, Itachi would be rendered unable to walk properly if he awoke. Turning him back over, she returned to his chest area figuring that she was practically drained of chakra.

Sighing, she brushed the overgrown raven locks covering his face to the side as she saw his almost doll-like perfect skin having been lacerated. She took the black rag that she had stuffed inside her back pocket and began wiping away the dried blood with it. He looked so peaceful that it even calmed her to some extent. Stroking his forehead with her thumb, she quickly took notice that he wasn't wearing his headband. '_That's odd.. I've never seen him anywhere without it.. but then again, it could have been knocked off during his battle,_' she reassured herself.

She lowered her head to where it pressed lightly against his chest to listen to his heartbeat to check if his injuries had damaged any important arteries. '_Something's wrong here. His heartbeat is off. It's weak and beating unevenly._' Immediately, she lifted her head and placed her palms on his left chest narrowing her eyes ever so slightly. She concentrated her chakra to let her see him internally and she slowly closed her eyes.

'_His heart.. it's so weak. It's been infected. It seems like the disease has been here for some time.. Why wasn't he in an emergency room by now? I doubt that this was caused by the injuries he faced, though this disease could have affected his durability in a fight. The amount of damage here looks like it's been built up for over years, now his heart's doing all it can just to keep beating.._' She brought her brows together in a wrinkle as she planned a way to possibly extend his life length. '_Wait. Why am I doing this? Why am I helping him survive? He's the one that I'm supposed to hate. He's the one that destroyed Sasuke's life. So, why am I thinking of ways to save him..?_' She didn't know, but leaving him here to die, alone, would leave her feeling guilty the rest of her life. If someone was in a life threatening situation and she had the chance to save them, she would. It didn't matter who or what that someone did. It wouldn't feel right if she let them die when they were helpless and weak. She'd rather win the battle fair and square; not have them be killed by some other factor.

Itachi may have assassinated his family, but it wasn't like he was fully consumed with evil, though. He actually never lived up to his reputation as everyone said that he was a ruthless killer. Yes, he killed anyone and everyone that he had ever been related to, save for Sasuke, but that's the only major crime that he had been known for. Anything else was never done by himself, it was always, '_The Akatsuki_'. Suddenly realizing the direction that her thoughts were turning to, she asked herself, '_Why am I standing up for him? Why am I trying to prove that he's innocent?_' These unconscious thoughts of hers kept making her ask these type of questions. It must have been the effect on her as he kept her captive. He was always polite to her, he was never rude. At certain times, he could even be considered nice - in an indirect type of way. He never threatened her either.

Suddenly, she remembered the incident that had happened between her and that shinobi at the springs. She had found his discarded body just _lying _there. He didn't seem to have any external injuries either, she noted. She knew though, that Itachi was the cause for his unconsciousness, or so she _thought_. It was obvious that he had been there though. Why didn't he kill the shinobi at first sight? He had only killed him when he threatened Sakura's life; not when he was risking his own. '_So, he had **planned **on letting the man_ live.' The ends of her lips curved upward ever so slightly at his almost undetectable kind gestures. She gazed at his calm, comforting complexion as he slept soundly in her lap. Though, this moment wouldn't last forever.

Once again, she planted her glowing palms to the location of his heart. Her brows quickly drew together creating a crease in between. Closing her eyes, she focused all her concentration into clearing his heart of the viruses that had taken refuge inside over the years. She figured that he had left this unchecked for more than just a _few _years. Though, she could see reminiscent effects of some type of pill that she was not familiar with. It seemed to slow down the process of the growing virus, but it did not stop it. Amazingly, it appeared to have extended his life by more than just a couple of years. Suddenly, she became interested in what components were put into this special pill, as it slowed down bacterial and viral growth, extending the expected lifespan.

This type of virus however, was rumored to be fatal if you caught it. Going back into her medical textbooks, Sakura faintly remembered a section that stated something about this special virus that attacked the heart. Even in the textbook, it stated that the disease is _extremely _rare, and has practically gone extinct. Though, this doesn't seem to be the case here. Focusing harder on her memories back when Tsunade-Shishou was still her sensei, she tried to think of anything that had this particular disease included.

'_Let's see.. It cannot be infected from person to person. It can only be passed down through genetics. It varies from which generation it can be passed on to. Sometimes it can be in a pattern, but it is mostly found in random generations. Something, something there has been a discovery that a person by the name of Rikoto Yu has found a certain technique that removes the virus completely._' That's it. She remembered the exact textbook that was lent to her from a faraway land for her to study from. It was quite old and beat up, but its information is invaluable. It held the secrets to the most skilled medical techniques that they used hundreds of years ago. Tsunade-Shishou had said that the textbook was so old that the information in there was unnecessary to learn because newer generation techniques proved to be easier and less chakra-straining. Regretting listening to her for the first time, Sakura closed her eyes and tried to go back in her memories to remember as much as she could reading from that textbook. It held the cure to Itachi's particular disease and many more now rumored-to-be extinct ones.

Straining her brain, nothing else that could be helpful came up. Sighing in distress, she figured that she could at least heal some exterior injuries with the last drops of her chakra. She rested her hands gently on his face and the faint green glow appeared, sealing all his small cuts. Suddenly, she is interrupted by sounds echoing in the hallways. '_It was perfectly quiet just a second ago-_'

"Where the hell did he run off to?" The slightly deep voice resonated throughout the corridors as Sakura sat petrified, praying that they wouldn't notice the pool of blood when they passed.

"What, I thought _you_ were the _expert _here." This was clearly a woman's voice. '_So now there's two of them. How many more are there?_'

"Shut up. We need to find him." That was the same voice as the first person who spoke. She tried to sense their chakras to see how close they were until they reached this room, but predictably, they had it masked. She could tell they were of high caliber ninjas, because only very few shinobi could _completely_ mask their chakra; leaving not even a slight hint to a trail. Itachi just happened to be one of them. The only reason she knew there were two was because they had been foolish and began talking. '_Maybe they weren't **that **smart._'

"Found him." She heard his chuckles echo throughout the hallway. Even if she mustered the rest of her chakra to masking both hers and _his, _it still wasn't enough. She let his scent drop through the atmosphere. '_Shit._' Using only her pure strength, Sakura lifted him somewhat off the ground and she was thankful that he didn't weigh much. He leaned on her, arm outstretched with a completely limp body dragging behind it. Sweat slid down the side of her cheek as he began to lift higher into the air, raising him roughly 3 inches off the ground. That's when she sprinted. She turned left and ran in the opposite direction that she had heard the voices. Her speed had declined instantaneously with another body to carry, but now that the chakra sealer was off of her she felt more energized than ever. If it wasn't, she would be barely even be able to elevate him up into sitting position.

Running indiscriminately through the winding corridors, all Sakura could think of was to _get away._ '_Run. Anywhere. I have to get as far as I can from them._' Before long, she spotted the bright orange and yellow light that stood at the end of the hallway. She ran faster and more desperately than ever. '_I'm so close.._' She was less than a few yards away from the exit when a flash of yellow and purple appeared, seemingly out of nowhere.

"Not so fast, Pinkie." The male spoke. They looked strangely identical. They both had dark purple hair and gleaming golden eyes, but tan skin. The odd combination clashed with each other, making them look somewhat _unique_. They looked like hungry wolves who just found their dinner. Though, they both had rather petite body frames. The man was thin, but tall, and the woman was thin also, but short. The male towered her by a head, but the woman was probably around Sakura's height. Sakura could spot their weapon pouches located all over their body. They were strapped across their chests, legs, arms, and any other visible limbs. She could also detect some scrolls sticking out of their back pockets. These people were dangerous. More sweat slipped down her frustrated temples as she attempted to remain her composure.

"What do you want?" She spat.

"We're merely here for the young man you're carrying. He has some.. business to attend to." The woman spoke as she dismissively eyed Sakura.

"Now, if you'll just hand him over.." The woman stepped in, closing the distance that Sakura had been trying to obtain, gesturing her arms to take Itachi.

"No." The woman flinched, as Sakura ran for it. She dodged the man's slow attempt to ensnare her, all the while carrying the slumped over unconscious Itachi. Quickly, she made her way into the forest clearing around the entrance of the cave. From there, she ran as fast as she could trying to ignore the burning sensation she felt in her legs.

"Shit. Get back here!"

"Calm down, Akira. She can't get far with the state that she's in," the woman reassured him. Quietly, she whispered to herself, "at least she shouldn't be able to.."

* * *

Gasping and panting vigorously, Sakura decided that she couldn't run any further, at least not with the extra weight that she held on her back. Gently laying him on the grassy floor blanketed with dead orange and red leaves, she collapsed beside a tree trunk. Her breathing became ragged as sweat rolled down her neck, soaking her in it. '_Who were they? Why were they after Itachi?_' Still unconscious, she glanced back at his almost dead-like figure. Worriedly, she placed her head on his heart, listening intently to the faint, uneven heartbeat. She sighed in relief. '_At least he was **alive**.. for now._'

Once her breathing had calmed down to where you wouldn't be able to even hear it, Sakura listened. She listened for any sounds that could be made by a human, or a wolf for that matter. She couldn't use any of her chakra to detect any intruders as she used it all up to heal his injuries. '_Even with my chakra back, I still can't protect him._' She laughed at herself with pity. But, at least he was safe at the moment. Too tired to move, Sakura found herself laying next to Itachi's unresponsive body with her head atop his chest. Even with knowing the tense situation they were at, Sakura felt calmly peaceful as she stared at the leaves bellowing in the direction of the autumn breeze. Some leaves left their branches and fluttered away, carried away by the sudden gust of wind. The bright blue skies with white puffs of fluff entranced her, as eyes gazed at the slowly moving clouds.

'_This is nice.._' She contemplated right before she drooped her eyes and exhaled a deep breath.

* * *

"Are you alright?" His husky deep voice breathed into her ear as she felt her cheeks gain another level of pink.

"M-my back.." attempting to reach her hand behind to show the pain that she was facing.

"We will reach the hospital momentarily." he assured her with a kind smile. '_Though, his dark, charcoal eyes told another story._' They continued on the straight, wide, dirt path towards the hospital located near the hokage tower. As he walked past civilians who were already bustling with life, they glared at him with dirty looks. Or more particularly, _her._ She sunk deeper into him, holding him for comfort as they began whispering to each other. She felt like an _outcast. _ When she tilted her head, she saw the bottom of his chin. Head raised, and determined eyes, he only concentrated on what lay ahead of him, not caring about what others think. He walked calmly, with such resolute steps. He looked _heroic _to her. No, he _was _a hero. Carrying her princess style through the dirt covered street paths, he didn't even take a second glance at the people who were whispering and glaring. He continued his even pace taking occasional glimpses of the beat up girl that clung to him in his arms.

"I'm sorry.. if I'm ruining your reputation.." she looked down ashamedly, her gleaming pink locks covered her face.

"Do not stress over what other people think, _Sakura._" '_How did he know my name..?_' She stared back up at him, her emerald orbs gazing intently into his.

"How did you-"

"_Cherry Blossoms._ You reminded me of sakura petals." '_Oh. That's logical. I thought for a moment that he knew who I-_'

"Though, that _is _your name as well, correct?" '_So he **did **know_ me?' She nodded her head slowly, trying to remember where she's seen this man before.

"Quite a beautiful name. It fits you perfectly." he smiled gently at her, and her cheeks turned to a rosy shade of pink. Her former thin line curved upwards, making a smile that she hasn't truly shown for ages.

* * *

Bright light flooded through his eyelids, making him scrunch them up. Was he in Heaven already? Twitching his fingers, he felt pain seep through his whole arm. No, this was not Heaven. So that must mean that he was still alive. But how? He sustained enough injuries to have killed any _normal _person instantly. The only reason he survived was because of the guilt he would have to leave _her._ To live long enough to release her from his grasp. That way, he would not die with regret. So, why was he still alive? He distinctly remembered that he had broken the chakra seal, lifting her from being forever sealed that would have rendered her never to use her skills again.

Cracking his eyes open to the blinding light, Itachi stared blankly through faded obsidian eyes. Pain resonated throughout his whole body, but a large portion of it seemed to have receded away. Lifting his aching arm reluctantly, he went to touch his chest, feeling for the large slash that one of the assassins sliced. His hand only ran through perfect, smooth, unbroken skin. Widening his eyes, he tried to lift his head up only finding that all the deep gashes that he remembered he obtained were gone. Though, he could still see slight scratches here and there, but all the life-threatening ones disappeared. His brows raised and eyes widened even further as he continued to examine his body. That was when he spotted her.

Pink lashes brushed her pristine cheeks as she slept, covering those curious emerald orbs. Her cherry blossom locks fell loosely surrounding that bright pink head, covering a section of her face. Her pale-white skin gave her an almost doll-like complexion if it wasn't for the faint bruises that he found gazing at her. Her head rested atop his left chest with her hand covering his heart. The chest that rose and declined as she breathed brought serenity to his expressions. He moved his left arm and gracefully grasped her clinging body closer to him, holding her at the waist. He lifted the other hand and brushed the fallen pink locks to tuck behind her ear. Her clear complexion that was now completely revealed to him was quite beautiful, like a painting, he contemplated.

He returned his head where it was, facing the towering trees in the forest. The autumn leaves bristled as the breeze swept some away. He stared through the tree tops and found a blurry sky blanketing over them. It consisted of pinks, oranges, reds, purples, and blues. It was truly quite amazing. His deteriorating eyesight was quite a burden as he found it difficult to appreciate simple things in nature such as this. At least he could still see the vibrant colors throughout the sky, making a beautiful scenic painting. Before long, the colors dulled and became a dark blue night sky. He could spot bright white lights dotting the skies. Itachi stared intently at the continuous changing sky before him without noticing how much time has passed.

The melodies of birds receded and the chirping of crickets grew louder. The welcoming dark night sky enveloped the two overly relaxed shinobi and the rhythmic chirps clouded Itachi's train of thoughts, clearing his mind and relieving his stress. Even if it was for but a moment. He turned his head to the side and saw the _still _sleeping kunoichi. If it wasn't for her, he would have never been able to experience the true beauty of nature, and for that, he _thanked _her for it. Leaning his head in, he pressed his lips against her forehead, making it a brief but meaningful touch. From there, he returned his head to his former position and slowly closed his eyes as a faint smile appeared on his lips.

* * *

"How far do you think they got?" Akira asked, _almost _sounding like a whine.

"I don't know. How about you _use_ your expert tracking skills?" Rin's face cringed into one of annoyance at her _useless _partner.

"Hey, hey. I thought I told you, I used up most of my chakra trying to _catch _this guy. While _you_ just _sat _at the front row seats and _watched _me get pummeled!" Stroking the back of his head at one of the bruises that Itachi had given him.

"Pfft. I let you have a chance at him, but apparently you were no match." She almost cracked up remembering that the battle her brother and her target faced. She knew that her brother's skill was nowhere near hers, yet, he shouldn't have been _that _far behind her. Every attack that her brother threw at the mysterious red-eyed user was either countered or easily dodged. Not one hit grazed him during the whole battle. It was only when her brother was too tired to fight anymore that she jumped in. By that point, her target was already somewhat exhausted and it made her job much easier than planned. They clashed katanas and kunais, as it was her specialty. During the battle, she noticed how he wasn't completely in it. He seemed to be.. thinking of other things and this frustrated her. She then aimed everything she had with killing intent out of irritation because she couldn't stand being inferior to him. She managed deep gashes across his chest, legs, and spine. Then she chased him vigorously through the jumble of trees, throwing weapons at any open chances. By that time, he had escaped inside a cave which would obviously have a dead end. She was utterly wrong when she stepped inside only to find winding hallways making a seemingly impossible maze.

That's when she felt the faint chakra of someone else. It was dangerously drained, but it was still pulsating. Amusingly, whoever it was tried to mask _both _of their chakra signatures. _Fools._ Even if her brother was an adept tracker, she could still follow the fading trail that they both left.

Now, her useless _and _drained brother was just dragging her down. Cringing her brows together, she concentrated on her target's chakra signature.

There. She found it. It was faint, and practically fading away. If she didn't catch it when she did, it would have completely dispersed.

"I found them."

"What're we waiting for then?" A smirk played in his sharp fangs and a glint shone in his eyes. From there, they pressed chakra to their feet and bolt off in search of their target.

* * *

_Crunch. _ His eyes flew open at the familiar sound. It was much too heavy to belong to a harmless woodland animal. _Them._ He knew that they were still after him, but he thought that they were far enough away from them to keep them searching for at least a few more hours. Incidentally, he was wrong. Glancing back at the pink haired kunoichi still asleep at his side, he decided that it was time to wake her from her slumber.

"Sakura." Speaking her name brought no response.

"Sakura." He tried once again.

"Uhn.." A moan of dissatisfaction escaped. Good. He was getting somewhere.

"Sa-ku-ra." This time louder, he let his mouth play with the syllables of her name. She furrowed her eyebrows in annoyance and snuggled herself closer to him. Yes, he found this comforting, but now was not the time to be embracing. He could hear the footsteps becoming louder in his sensitive ears. In anyone else's and they would not be able to tell the difference._  
_

He attempted to stand up, so he could get a better grasp on the rock-like sleeping girl. The second he stood up, he found himself on the ground again just as fast. Something in his spinal cord was broken, and he could not even stand up. This was certainly inconvenient. Luckily, his assassins were rather loud and this allowed him to estimate a time of when they would arrive. It was roughly half an hour if they kept at the same speed.

This time, he grabbed Sakura by the shoulders and shook her somewhat violently.

"Wha-" lazily opening her eyes, she didn't seem to be taking her abrupt morning wake up very happily. Before she could retort something along the lines of, '_What'd you do that for?_' He responded with a quick and blunt statement.

"I do not have time to explain, I need you to heal my spinal cord."

"_Excuse me?_"

"I cannot stand as of right now, and we need to escape." Suddenly it dawned on her. When she had collapsed after having run from those _wolf-like _shinobis. She had completely forgotten to heal Itachi's severed nerve tissues in his spinal cord and left him to be unable to walk.

"They're _still _after us?" As she said this, she had already turned him over roughly laying him flat on his belly. A strong green glow appeared before her palms as she placed them at the small of his back.

He replied with a silent nod, but he assumed that she could not see it as she was fully concentrated on the damaged tissues. Instantaneously, he felt _much _better than he had when he first awoke. Still keeping hold of the situation, Itachi calculated possible escape routes that they could take as to not be forced to battle. During his conflict with the hired assassins, he had kept note of each one's special skills. The taller man had been able to throw multiple weapons at considerable speeds, but not fast enough for Itachi. He had been good at dodging most of his attacks, but ended taking some blows to the head. Itachi doubts that this was all that he could do, though.

The woman on the other hand, was quite persistent. She aimed each and every one of her kunais with furious killing intent. During the brawl, his thoughts had wandered elsewhere, leaving him somewhat vulnerable. Though, he had not underestimated her skills, he only felt that there were more _important _things that went upon his mind at the moment. Regrettably, he became more injured that he had perceived and could feel his life slowly slipping away from him. Then, _she _saved him. He was truly grateful.

"Okay, I'm done. It isn't perfect but it should allow you to walk for a bit," As she helped him stand, she quickly added, "just until I can properly heal it."

He nodded in agreement to her temporary plan and as a form of gratitude. Quickly, he took her hand and sprinted in a random direction to faze off the deadly siblings. They ran together in unison like that until they had reached a nearby village. To their disappointment, it was abandoned. They entered anyway, without noticing the malevolent aura that surrounded it. Feeling like intruders, they barged into an old cottage covered in spiderwebs and dust. They sat down together, leaning against the wall panting heavily. _Well, _at least Sakura was. From there, her questions couldn't contain themselves anymore.

"Itachi.. Why are there assassins after you?" Sounding like a worried housewife, Sakura wanted to bite back her words. '_Heh. **Housewife**, you_ wish.' Inner-Sakura completed.

He let out a considerably loud sigh and he closed his eyes for a brief moment.

"..I was on a mission." He paused. She waited with those curious emerald orbs.

"It was to retrieve certain documents located throughout the countries." Her eyes grew wider, seeing the enormity of the type of missions that he could accept.

"There are 57 in total. I have acquired 8." This surprised her. What type of documents were these?

"Each document is guarded with shinobi of skills that are able to perform assassinations if needed." Well, that answered her question. He must have stole the document and ended up being hunted down. Though, he continued on.

"The contractor has agreed to complete a certain task for me in exchange for the 57 documents." '_What? _ _I thought the contractor was just extremely rich. Apparently not. Now what type of task would Itachi ask of a contractor?_'

"What did you ask for..?"

"That.. is classified." He grimaced and his lips spread into a thin, fine line.

"Okay, well. What does this have to do with me? Why did you capture me in the first place?" He paused. It looked like he was deep in thought as his brows were brought together.

"I.." '_Yes? Go on_.'

"I am in need of your assistance." '_Well, obviously._' Inner-Sakura stated with an attitude. Though, it seemed like those _simple _words were excruciatingly difficult to say. '_Of course that would be expected of an Uchiha with pride. I've dealt with one longer than I wanted to._'

"Details?" She asked questioningly.

"I need your assistance in collecting the documents." Seemed logical to her. 57 of them are out there somewhere, and _each _of them were guarded. He only was able to obtain 8, even with his extensive S-classed abilities. '_This is going to take a **long **time._' Wait. What? Did she just agree to help him? No, she wasn't that _shallow _as to accept a job that she didn't even know what it was-

"The documents," he now whispered in a low voice. Continuing, "they contain high classed forbidden skill instructions that the current generation does not know of. These skills easily surpass S-classed ones." She gasped. She didn't know that there were _so _many of them.

"They have been long forgotten and the select few who were able to master the skills are long gone. There is only one recorded entry in existence of each, unique skill." She listened intently.

"They are forbidden because they do not follow the laws of nature-"

_Bam! _ The old wooden door snapped open and crashed under the impact of the two wolves. Their crooked smiles gleamed, encasing razor-sharp fangs, their hungry eyes glinted a golden amber, and their deep, dark amethyst locks flowed wildly as a gust of wind blew through the door frame.

"_Finally, we found you annoying pests_."

* * *

**I think I'll stop here. This chapter turned out to be a longer one than usual. Ohwell. Sorry if the ending seems a little.. rushed. I have so much homework that I need to do, so I was kinda distracted when writing this. I decided that I might as well finish this chapter in 2 days since I've been WAITING to write this for some time. Oh yeah. For those who don't know, my barely invented OCs go by the lovely names of, "Rin", "Akira", and "Rikoto Yu". I couldn't find any other already-made characters that fit the personality and occupation that I needed. ;c Their personalities and looks may seem a little vague, as I'll describe them in more detail later in the future chapters. I think these chapters are diverting away from being humorous.. I might have to change it to something else. Anyways, I THANK YOU my dear reviewers who've reviewed. You guys make my day. (: Review/Alert/Favorite and whatnot.**


	5. Chapter 5: Darkened Pasts

**Blossoms Encounter Roses**

**Chapter 5**

**- Darkened Pasts**

* * *

"_Finally, we found you annoying pests._"

* * *

The wind whistled through the cracks that the broken down cottage had, creating a loud moaning sound. Thoughts raced through the _former_ Akatsuki member and the leaf kunoichi at amazing speeds. They didn't have time to think though, as after a few seconds passed, Sakura was abruptly pinned to the wall with a kunai at her throat. Itachi had swiftly dodged the woman's attempt at striking him with her katana. Itachi turned his head only to find a pink head with a desperate expression across her face. His posture tensed as he saw a sliver of blood lace that pale, thin neck. He intended to pace forward, slowly approaching the unlucky man, but Sakura gave him an eye of determination and inclined her head towards the woman. Sweat rolled down the side of her neck as she nodded her head ever so slightly so the man pinning her wouldn't notice. From there, Itachi's tensed posture faded significantly, but he kept his brows furrowed.

'_I can defend for myself. I have to do this to show that I'm no longer a weakling that someone has to protect._' She worded to herself to give her some confidence. Quickly, she charged chakra to her fists and drove them forward, crushing bones. A piercing shriek of pain could be heard as the man backed off, gripping his chest and feeling the instantly broken ribs. Sakura ran to the middle of the cottage and pounded her fist into the ground, creating an exceptionally large crater, crumbling the walls of the shelter. The assassins began to stagger as the ground beneath their feet shook violently. That was their chance to escape. Sakura grabbed Itachi's petrified arm and yanked it forward, pulling him back into reality.

Together they ran, they didn't know how far they went and nor did they care. They ran until their legs gave out beneath them and collapsed. Panting heavily, they stared at their surroundings, figuring where they were. That was when Sakura's mouth fell agape and Itachi's eyes widened ever so slightly.

"We're in a genjutsu..?" Sakura whispered, leaning towards the Uchiha.

"No." She looked at him. He seemed to be deep in thought about different matters.

"Then how are we.."

"There are no other genjutsu users capable of this in the vicinity." Sakura examined the interior of the cottage that she had just recently destroyed. Inspecting all around her, she then turned back towards where Itachi was but found nothing. Guessing that he had moved from where he sat, she called his name.

"Itachi?" No response came back.

"Itachi!" Complete silence.

"**Itachi!**" Louder than ever, she yelled his name. The only thing that could be heard were the faint echoes that resounded throughout the room.

'_What? B-but he was just here!_' She stretched her arm where he had just recently occupied and ended up only whacking the air. Slowly she stood up, and eyed the room one more time suspiciously. No Itachi was found. Her heart began to beat faster and louder. '_There's that feeling again. _ **_Alone_.**' '_No, I can't let it consume me again._' Remaining her composure, she figured that there wasn't anyone in the cottage now and walked to the door. Twisting the handle, she pulled the door ajar and began to exit-

"Wha-" Staring into the dark corridors on the other side of the door, Sakura widened her eyes. '_What's going on? I remember that Itachi said it **wasn't **a genjutsu. So why was everything not how I remembered it to_ _be?_' Cautiously, she stepped into the dark hallways, feeling if it was just an illusion played by her eyes. It wasn't. She continued walking, stretching out her chakra to detect if there was anyone else here. So far, she found nothing.

Walking a few more paces further, she heard a scream. '_What? How come I didn't detect any chakra signatures?_' Sprinting towards the voice, she reached a spot where the hallways separated into 3 different paths. Without time to think, she chose the one on the right. Luckily, the screams grew louder as she continued running. She became desperate to find anybody, as she was practically _scared _out of her wits. It was dark, it was empty, and the walls felt like they were closing in on her. Sweat slid down her temples as the shrieks receded. '_What, no. No. Not now._' Sprinting even faster, she fiercely ran to the slowly fading noise, until she bashed her face into something. Something hard. Lifting her hand to massage her recently bruised nose, she tilted her head upwards only to find gleaming golden eyes. Shock overwhelmed her only until she noticed that they weren't aimed at her._  
_

Looking behind her, she saw what could have been the reminiscent effects of.. what was that? It looked like white steam, except that it was seeping into the walls quick enough that she almost missed it. She quirked one brow up in confusion. '_What was going on?_' She tilted her head upward to try and meet the assassin's eyes. They weren't shining of the intimidating golden glint now. They were shocked. They stood opposite to each other, and Sakura in a tense position. '_He should be threatening me right now. Why is he just standing there?_' He then looked down and stared at her with startled eyes, just as if he barely noticed her presence.

"Rin.." He whispered, "Where's Rin..?"

"What?" She looked back at him questioningly. '_Who was he talking about?_'

"I.. I need Rin..!" '_Who's Rin? Was it that other girl?_' The man was now shaking uncontrollably as tears flowed from his eyes. Sakura stood uncomfortably tense as she tried to pat his back awkwardly, trying to aid him in his state. She certainly didn't remember this side of him, as the last time she saw him, he was trying to kill her. As her thoughts wandered, he slid down against the wall and down to the floor where he muffled his sobs through his palms. Sakura stood there watching him with confusion as she fought an argument whether to stay and comfort him, or to just leave him as he is and go and search for the missing Itachi. Apparently, the latter idea won over and Sakura began to back away slowly, trying not to arouse the crying man-

"Wait," He said through loud sniffles. Sakura stopped in her path and paused, waiting for him to continue.

"..Help me find Rin." He pried his hands away from his face where he could now clearly see Sakura standing in front of him.

Without thinking, Sakura replied, "Why should I help you?"

"I won't kill you," '_Well, wasn't _**_that _**_just a privilege?_' Though, after seeing him in _this _state, Sakura could hardly believe that he was a threat to her now. She began to turn around once more and walk away, but he added, "Please, I-I can't stand being alone." She paused in her steps. '_He's the same as me.._' She pivoted around and looked at him straight in the eye. _Or at least she tried to._ He had the back of his hand rubbing his swollen red eyes as his head was turned downwards, facing the ground. Was this how she appeared when she uncontrollably broke into tears? He looked so weak and hopeless right now.

Now feeling confidence rise in herself as she saw how much braver she was when she was left _alone, _she mercilessly spoke to him, "Get up."

"W-what?" He looked up immediately and spotted deep emerald orbs staring back at him, with a glint in her eye.

"I said, get up. We're going to go look for your sister." She extended a helping hand towards him and she curved her lips upwards, trying to seem kind and gentle. He took it gratefully as he supported himself up, towering himself a head above hers. She let go of his hand and began to walk in a random direction and walking at her own pace, leading with confidence in each step. She craned her neck back to see how he was doing and was surprised to find him following her so intently that if she slowed her pace any further, he would bump his chin on her head. Strangely, she found this to be cute, like she was the big sister leading the little brother.

Out of curiosity she asked, "Hey, what's your name?"

He paused for some time, as if he was lost in thought. '_Well, I wouldn't be **too **familiar with a stranger that I just met to tell them my name either._' Including the fact that they had the abilities to kill you, she added.

"Don't worry, it's not like I'm going to be using it against you. ..I just don't know what to call you." Sakura reassured the nameless-man-at-the-moment. She didn't want to seem like she was trying to pry information out of him.

The silence continued on for a few moments until he broke it with, "Akira. My name's Akira."

* * *

Itachi silently padded through the dark garden fields, hoping to gain some distance from whatever was chasing him. It looked like a trail of white smoke, but if you looked closer, you could faintly see the contour lines of a human face carved into it. He was not afraid in the least, more like he could not defend himself from this.. entity. Every time that he had obtained a decent gap between the puff of air and himself, he would throw an occasional kunai at it, hoping to pierce _something._ Alas, it went straight through the air, as if there was nothing there. With that being proven, he suggested the theory that if a kunai could not penetrate it, then maybe he was safe. He would only pass through it like the kunai.

He skidded to a stop and pivoted himself around to wait for the speeding steam to pass through him. It didn't stop when it touched him, it encircled around him like a predator circling around its prey. The second it grazed him, he felt himself instantaneously becoming weaker and weaker. It was as if it was sucking his _life _out of him. Before long, he had trouble breathing properly and began sprinting for it as it followed intently, hungry for more.

He ran through the endless rows of rose bushes, trying to escape from the smoke. It seemingly appeared out of nowhere and began pursuing him while he was trying to figure out where he was in the first place. The last thing he remembered was him lecturing Sakura on how this was not a genjutsu. He closed his eyes for a brief moment, and he found himself sitting in the middle of a rose garden. The sun was down, making everything appear dimmed, stressing his already deteriorating eyesight. Then _it _came. From out of the side of the rose bushes, a white smoke materialized out of nowhere. He could not sense any chakra that could have caused the mysterious white steam. This confused him, because it was completely illogical. This was obviously not a genjutsu, but maybe his mind was playing tricks on him.

Before he could figure out what this white steam was, a feminine voice sliced through the silent atmosphere.

"_How dare you turn our home into a battlefield._" It was malicious and even made him shiver slightly. He craned his neck back to see how much of a gap had he made between him and the smoke but found nothing. His heart was still beating wildly, but a wave of relief washed over him as he slid down against a bush, sweat streaming down his neck.

* * *

"Akira!" Rin panted heavily as her voice resounded throughout the night. This was the first time that she's been separated from Akira ever since that _incident _11 years ago, and it brought agitation to her features.

Once again, she called his name out in hopes of a response, "Akira!" but to no avail. Silence surrounded her as the dimmed night grew darker. She was aware that she was in a flower garden, or more particularly, a rose garden. The aroma of roses filled her nose the second she found herself in the rows of bushes. She didn't even know how she got here, because the last thing she remembered was that she was staggering around because of the _crater _that the pink-haired girl made. How did a petite girl of that size even have that much strength? Well, it didn't matter now that she was alone. She hadn't felt this way for a _long _time. Her heart pounded within her chest, clouding her ears so that she couldn't hear anything else. Why was she overreacting? It wasn't out of the ordinary for someone of her age to be alone. After all, she only turned 18 a few months ago and she should be an independent woman by now.

It was just that she wasn't used to being parted from her brother. No matter how many times she pushed him away because he was dragging her down or annoying her, she _liked _the fact that he was always there for her. Now that he wasn't by her side, she was feeling a little anxious.

She began walking down the aisles of roses, in hopes of finding the missing Akira.

_Guh! _Then, she tripped over something. Something that made noises. Immediately looking behind her, she saw a leg. She then traced it towards its owner which seemed to have just been abruptly woken up.

"Ack. I'm so sorr-" She paused. Looking closer at him, he instantly became familiar. It wasn't at first noticeable in this horrible darkness, but it could have been no other. Quickly she replaced her apology with, "I-it's you..!"

He tilted his head upwards to glance at her through faded charcoal eyes. Well, this had certainly made her job _much _easier than planned. Though, this wasn't exactly the person that she had been looking for. She would just finish the job here and return to searching for her brother. That seemed like an adequate plan to her. She unsheathed her katana, gripping the hilt with white knuckles and held it directly against him. He looked up at her once again with an expressionless countenance before he stood up from his spot and faced her, eyes bleeding of a dark crimson.

Itachi did not have time to deal with these assasins, though, something was missing. Where was the man? He distinctly remembered that there were two, now one was not in sight. He already assumed that they were partners, as they both seemed to be after him. So, either they separated, or they _were _separated. Either way, there was only one now, so he would not have too much trouble defending himself. Though, the woman looked somewhat anxious. She was hesitant. This made it even _easier _for Itachi to simply knock her unconscious. Her guard was down, and she was open from all sides. She stared at him through gleaming golden orbs, waiting for the first move, and Itachi took it gratefully.

He swung his right leg under, making her stagger backwards, loosening her grip on the sword. He then swiftly whacked his arm against hers, making her abruptly drop the katana as it clattered to the floor. Immediately, she jumped backwards and pulled several kunai from pouches located all over her body and flung them towards him. Dodging them easily, Itachi paced forward, closing the distance between them before he appeared behind, surprising her. He then gripped both her wrists together behind her back, rendering her unable to reach her hidden weapons. They stood still as ever, each waiting for the other's move.

Droplets of sweat slid down Rin's cheeks as she furiously thought of a way she could puncture one of his vital points and finally get the job done. His grip was hard as steel when she tried struggling out of his grasp, so she couldn't reach any of the many weapons located all over her body. She could, however, reach some of her scrolls protruding from her back pockets, though they needed blood to perform the seals. She then dug her fingernails into the palm of her hands, making a crescent mark. She dug deeper, and beads of crimson dropped to the earthy floor. Her breath hitched for but a moment as she attempted not to disturb the hard grip on her wrists while she slowly reached for the nearest scroll in her pocket.

Itachi noticed drops of blood dripping to the floor and found this odd. He did not remember giving her any cuts or gashes that could result in bleeding. So why was there blood? He narrowed his eyes ever so slightly and tried to focus his vision on her hands, where the dark liquid flowed from. From there, he could see that she had caused the injury on herself, but why? Scrolls in her back pockets indicated the reason. His grip hardened and he pulled her arms away from her body, stretching them out even further creating more pain. He did not know what to do with this girl, mainly because he did not want to have to resort to killing her. Though, she seemed favored to do that to him. He pulled one hand away and aimed two fingers at the pressure point located at the nape of her neck. Silently, he punctured his cold, slender fingers into the skin and her body abruptly fell limp. He began to set her down against a nearby bush that seemed somewhat adequate for a resting spot before he heard approaching footsteps coming at a rapid pace. His heart jumped for a moment until he heard the familiar voice of the calming pink-haired kunoichi.

"Rin!" Sakura's voice cut sharply through the former silent night. Itachi felt strangely calmer when he heard her voice again, though, who was it that she was calling for? Before he had the time to answer that question mentally, another voice paired with hers. A much deeper one.

"Rin?" He strangely recognized this voice, but could not match a face or a name to it. It was obviously a man though.

Itachi stood in the middle of the pathway of the rose bushes, supposedly waiting for the approaching two to appear in his vision. The footsteps grew louder and two faint human-like shapes emerged from the darkness. His hands were still hooked onto the collar of the unconscious woman's shirt when he saw a pair of golden orbs aimed directly at him menacingly. He stared back calmly while he set her down on the floor and quickly recovered his casual pose.

"You..! What did you do to Rin?!" Quickly, the man sprinted towards Itachi while feeling his legs for a kunai where his pouches lay. As he lunged for Itachi, a hard grip on his upper arm pulled him right back, stumbling him on the way.

Sakura glared at him with fierce emerald eyes before stating, "Calm down, Akira. Rin's not dead." She then paced up towards Rin's unconscious body and placed her thumb on her inner wrist. "See? She's fine." A large sigh could be heard shortly after.

Itachi on the other hand stood nonplussed, quirking an eyebrow up at how casually they were talking to each other. He had thought that they would have killed Sakura too for accompanying him in the first place. So why were they acting as if they were acquaintances with each other? Obviously, something had happened between the two while they had been separated. He took one step towards Sakura who was still giving the unconscious woman a quick checkup-

"Stop." He paused, unsure of what to reply.

"You're hurt. Go sit down over there." She didn't even need to look at him as she pointed a finger towards the other side of the pathway. Itachi looked to see where he was injured and found a large gash on the side of his leg, still bleeding. It was strange, because he barely felt the pain, but began to feel more as he examined his injury further. He happily sat down and waited until Sakura was finished with scanning for internal injuries. Everything felt oddly calm, only because his supposedly pink-haired partner was healing the assassins that nearly killed him. He turned his head to look closer at the man who unsteadily stared at his sister's unconscious body. Before, that same man had tried to kill him, now, he's desperately worried for his sister who is simply asleep. Strange how human beings can change personalities so quickly. He has always kept his emotions under a thick, expressionless façade showing no weakness, as his former teachers had taught him.

Sakura finished her checkup and found nothing serious other than minuscule scratches on her body. Also, she noticed faint bruise marks on her wrists. '_Well, I know where **that **came_ _from._' She stood up and moved herself towards the side where Itachi lay patiently. She was surprised by how calm he reacted to their re-acquaintance, and especially because she brought one of _his _assassins to join her too. '_Usually, people would be wildly asking a million questions by now, but I guess you can't expect so much from Itachi._'

A green glow quickly appeared on her palms as they hovered over the large bleeding gash located on his leg. Only after a few minutes, most of the former intimidating slash receded and a small cut was the only thing remaining. After even that had disappeared, Sakura began to lean closer towards him and whisper into his ear.

"Itachi.." Her tone was hushed.

"Hm?"

"..Why were you holding Rin?" Her emerald eyes bored into his charcoal ones.

Somewhat nonplussed, Itachi responded with a second's hesitation, "It was mere coincidence."

"For you to be _holding _her?" A pink eyebrow twitched upwards in annoyance._  
_

"For us to cross paths with each other," he corrected, then he added, "I do not see how this subject is essential to our situation."

With a sigh, Sakura finished healing his flesh wound, but not before roughly slapping his leg.

"Gotta make sure it won't open up again." She explained to the confused Itachi with a forced smile. Itachi sat on the ground, baffled by what just happened and wondered what was going on in that kunoichi's head.

Sakura walked over towards the huddled figure at his sister's side and found Akira in a state of agitation.

"She's _fine_. It'll just be a little while until she comes to." Akira tilted his head to look at the pink-haired medic hovering over him.

"I know.. but.. I just can't stop worrying that she'll never wake up."

"Why is that?" Sakura stared back at him, somewhat confused. He already knew that her injury is _very _minor, and that it's far from causing death. Why was he so worried?

"Because.. that's what happened to my mother." He now spoke in a quiet whisper as his head drooped lower. Sakura's eyes widened. '_Well, it's not like it was **unusual **to be parent-less in the shinobi world._' She reassured herself.

"I'm sorry." She tried to sound sympathetic.

"You're not." This time, he glared back at her with his fiery yellow eyes. "You don't know what it's like to have no family." For some reason, Sakura found these lines to be familiar.

"You have your sister." She retorted.

"She's the only one I have left." His eyes returned to a saddened look.

"What happened?" Sakura asked without knowing how sensitive this subject must be to him. A long silence passed by as  
Sakura shifted uncomfortably, wanting to take her words back.

"My father." His brows furrowed together, creating a large crease as his anger seethed through.

"What?" Sakura stood staring at him with wide eyes, waiting for him to respond.

"He-"

"He killed your mother, did he not?" Surprisingly, Itachi joined into the conversation with them. Sakura glared back at Itachi and motioned for him to stop talking. She didn't want him to cause Akira to cease discussing about his past. Itachi simply stood staring back at Sakura with an expressionless countenance.

Akira sat on the earthy floor, gently stroking Rin's cheek with his thumb. Still, he did not look back at the two, but he responded with, "No one believed me."

"Everyone said it was because she was ill. _'That's _the cause,' they said." His eyes narrowed even further. "I know my father did it. I know he killed her."

Sakura and Itachi looked at each other for a brief moment before Sakura began another question.

"How..?"

"Over dosage." He paused before continuing, "He was her doctor. No one else could have done it. There was no autopsy because everyone said she died from her sickness. Well, she _didn't._" Now, his sharp fangs were showing. "There's no way I can get revenge now though. He killed himself after my mother, but not before trying to kill us too." His darkened gaze returned to the life-less Rin.

"He tied us up and set the house on fire, claiming to be, 'out of the house' when everything burst into flames." Akira uncomfortably shifted his arm. "Me and Rin escaped, but we were left with scars."

Sakura peered below and eyed Akira's arm, finding something that she didn't see before. It seemed to be a large burn mark that traced from the elbow to the shoulder and disappeared behind his shirt.

"Everyday, it torments me. Intimidates me. Reminds me of the same day he injected my mother with poison." His left hand gripped his upper right arm tightly.

"I hope that bastard went to hell, where he belongs." He scorned.

Itachi felt uncomfortable as every second passed when he listened to this story. It reminded him of that fateful night. The night that changed his life forever. The night that he wished he would forget. Even if he had planned for Sasuke to feel hatred towards him, it was unsettling to Itachi. He let his eyes wander to the scarred siblings on the floor. They would never be healed of their emotional pain by having hatred consume them. Itachi somehow felt _responsible _for this. He felt guilty. He was a killer. Forever, his hands will be stained in blood. Unconsciously, Itachi's red sharingan flared on out of instinct of being reminded of his past.

Sakura peered over towards Itachi and found him in a somewhat disheveled condition. The sharingan bled crimson, showing that he was in his defensive state. His posture was tense, giving him a statue-like form. Sakura stared with curious emerald orbs, wondering why he was so uneasy. Was it because of the situation they were in? How they were so close with their assassins? No, that couldn't possibly be it. If they turned on him, he could easily defeat them. '_Why am I putting so much confidence in him?'_ It wasn't like she was on his side.. or was she? '_Of course not. You're a proud Konoha shinobi._' So, why hasn't she tried to run away yet? Why has she stayed by his side all this time, even with the chakra sealer off of her? Was it because she.. _trusted_ him..? Was it because she felt indebted to him? That was probably it. ..She hoped.

If she were a true Konoha shinobi, the right thing to do would've been to immediately turn him in the second she had an advantage over him. '_But he would've been executed._' So? Why did she care? She should feel proud that she had caught an S-classed criminal. It would definitely boost her reputation as a Konoha shinobi to the utmost amount. She could even be promoted from doing that. She had every reason to turn him in to Konoha, but something deep inside her told her not to do it. She felt like he was somehow.. _innocent _from his crimes. His personality did not match that of the heartless murderer they described in the files. The way he treated her was too polite and kind to come from a psychotic killer. It didn't mean that she placed her complete trust in him now though. Sakura sighed, '_It's.. complicated._' she told herself.

"Uhn..!" Akira fell to his knees and gripped his chest with white knuckled fists. Immediately, Itachi and Sakura ran to him to see what was wrong. A puddle of blood splattered to the ground as Akira coughed haggardly. Sweat ran down his cheeks and his eyes were shut tight, showing a face in pain.

"Wha- What's wrong?!" Sakura exclaimed as she rested her palm on his back to keep him balanced.

Blood trickled down the side of his lips to his chin as he tried to open his mouth to speak. Another coughing fit hit him and left him to splatter more blood into the puddle.

"I-it hurts..Ugh..!" He dropped to the floor gripping his hands over his chest even tighter and showing a face of agitation. Sakura couldn't find any external injuries causing his coughing fit, so it must be internal. She immediately tried to pry his hands off of his torso and let her palms glow green to scan his insides. He fidgeted around, exhibiting how much agony he was in.

His ribs were broken. They have been for some time, but it's caused a real problem now that they've punctured his lungs. But how did his ribs get broken- '.._Oh._' The incident they had when Akira pinned her to the wall and she drove her fists to his chest. It must have broken his ribs considering her super-strength, but why didn't he say anything? '_He knew that I was a medic nin and I probably could have saved him from this severe injury if he told me that sooner._' The faint green glow darkened and became more of a solid color. Sakura furrowed her brows together, putting all her concentration on mending the broken bones. She took a brief glance back at Akira and found him to be unconscious. '_Of course he would be. After all that blood loss, it isn't a surprise to find him passed out._' Her focus then returned on his ribs. The sharp edges had punctured his lungs, causing him to be out of breath and coughing blood. '_This isn't good.._' Sweat slipped down her cheeks as she figured the fastest route to save him. '_Much longer, and he won't survive.._' The bones returned to their upright positions, but were still weak. '_I need to fix the lungs first._' His lungs were still bleeding from the injuries the bones caused. Carefully, she tried to close the holes in the lungs as fast as possible, but a raspy breath caught her attention. A loud, but painful cough could be heard as more blood stained his clothes. '_Hurry.._' She was running out of time, and she couldn't let Akira die. How would she face Rin if he did? It would be all her fault. She wouldn't be able to take the guilt of letting someone die, when she had the chance to save them all along. Pressing her palms closer to his chest, her concentration grew greater than before as the holes in the lungs receded.

The bleeding did not stop, however. His left lung was practically healed already, while the right had some problems. It had large holes which even the green flow of chakra had trouble restoring. It was still bleeding furiously, which would cause more internal damage to nearby organs. It didn't look good for his right lung. If he was in an emergency room by now, it wouldn't be a problem, but right now she didn't have any tools or medications on hand. Sakura worked precariously as her worries overcame her. '_What if I can't save him?_' She began to think of any possibilities that would give him a better chance at life. Then, a murderous thought came to mind.

'_Why should **I **save **him**? He's the one who tried to kill me. Why am I the one trying to save his_ _life? Him living or dying isn't going to change my life in any way._' She paused for a brief moment to think better about her decision. Her mental thoughts were right, she admitted shamefully. Her eyes stared at his internal shape, disheveled and bleeding all over. They then wandered to his face and found it in deep agitation, even if he was unconscious. He must be in such extreme pain that he fainted, but kept his brows furrowed, creating deep creases. Sakura sighed and stared back at his lungs. They were in even worse shape than they were a few minutes ago, and here she sat, doing nothing but looking at it.

'_He has about 3 minutes._' She told herself. Her chakra levels were somewhat low, and it was no match for this injury. She would need a lot of chakra to completely heal his internal wound. If he were any ordinary patient, she wouldn't hesitate to be healing him right now. But.. this situation is quite different. He was after her. To kill Itachi and probably her. Part of her deeply wanted him to live, but the other refused. Sakura fought with herself, but only the short time he had left made her choose her decision. Now, his life was in her hands now. It was her choice.

'_Life, or Death._'

* * *

**My OCs turned out to take over this chapter... which I hadn't planned on. Sorry if you guys were looking forward to some more ItachixSakura action and whatnot.**

**FOR YOUR INFORMATION: I'll probably update really late now. Or really fast. Depending on my mood. I tend to procrastinate. A LOT. Oh, and reviews/alerts/favorites are what usually sparks the writer to continue writing. JUST-SO-YOU-KNOW. -hinthint,coughcough. Welp. That's all I have to say for now. Until next time... Toodles.**


	6. Bonus Chapter: Sacrifices

**WARNING!**

**This is a BONUS CHAPTER.**

**It's like an extra part to the story, but won't effect the plot if you don't read it, though it might help.**

**It basically consists of what my OCs are like. More in depth to their personalities and past.**

**It's your choice to whether you want to read it or not.**

**Think of it as a little extra.**

**If you don't have time or are not interested, go ahead and skip to the next Chapter.**

**P.S.**

**This chapter consists of both first person and third person.**

* * *

**Blossoms Encounter Roses**

**BONUS CHAPTER**

**- Sacrifices**

* * *

_They say that right before you die, your life flashes before your eyes._

* * *

"Akira! Over here, I found something!" He twisted his head around to find where his sister had run off to. He heard her yell at him again and he quickly sprinted towards the familiar voice.

It was the usual hot summer day where the trees grew a bright green and yellow, and the birds playfully chirped their tunes. They were playing around in a large, empty field excluding for the small pond that lay in the middle, and a great big oak tree that sat atop a grassy hill. The twins were often found there when their parents were constantly bickering. They didn't want to get involved in the argument, so they simply left to visit the nearby field that awaited to be ventured. It was the spot where some of their greatest childhood memories took place.

The empty field was some spare land that belonged to no one. Though, only a few knew about it, considering that the neighbors wouldn't dare peek into the backyard of their mansion.

The field was a walking distance from their home, so they often visited it out of boredom. Eventually, it became a site of peace for the two, after constantly hearing their parents arguments. Everyday after their studies were finished, they would enthusiastically walk together to the field to sit down at the oak tree, or to chase frogs and birds around. It was only until the sun flared a blazing orange at the horizon and everything else appeared black, did they scurry back home.

Just until a little over midnight, did their parents finally stop bickering and retreat back to their separate quarters for the night. Though, it wasn't always like this. Before the twins reached the young age of six, their parents were kind, loving ones. Everyday, their mother would send them to school, kissing them goodbye for the morning. At lunch, they would open their lunches and find some type of note attached to them, telling them how much their mother loved them and to eat all of their lunch. Though, that gained some laughs from other children and they would embarrassingly tuck the notes away. When they arrived home, they would patiently wait for their parents to return from work. Rin always enjoyed playing with her pale porcelain dolls while Akira was often found toying with his father's medical utensils.

Their mother was always the one home first, as their father would usually stay late at work because of an emergency injury of some sort. She would start dinner and the family would wait for their father to come home. If he didn't arrive by a certain time, she would go ahead and allow the children to eat, knowing how her husband is saving lives at the moment. She would tuck them in bed, and occasionally bring out a story book to tell before she kissed them goodnight. Clicking on the lamp, she would often wait patiently for the door handle to turn, ready to give her husband a welcome home hug.

When the children grew to the age of seven, their mother became gravely ill. She had some type of disease that they couldn't understand, and she had not told them until a few months later that she had caught the sickness. Thankfully, it was curable. The problem was the cost for the medication she needed. She knew that the cost wasn't a big issue until she caught sight of her husband's spending's.

Ever since she had gotten ill, she had vaguely noticed that the monthly savings had been dropping at an extreme rate. At first, it only appeared normal, as she was taken care of in the hospital for a long period of time. As months passed, she found the cost of the hospital fees, and they weren't nearly as much as what had been taken out of the bank. The price of the medication was now out of reach, but that was the least of her worries. She looked over at _what _her husband was spending so much money on, and it made her furious. All the times that he arrived home late because of an emergency, or when he said that he didn't have time to visit the hospital was a lie. He wasn't working at his job late, he was spending his money on _women._ Prostitutes. Whores. Sluts. Her anger seethed as she crumpled the fragile paper and threw it across the hospital bed.

Akira, on the other hand had saw all of this when he had arrived at the hospital for his daily visit. He didn't know what was on the paper until he had made sure his mother had fallen asleep, and he acquired the chance to examine the slip. Though, to a six year-old, this was incomprehensible. He didn't understand a word that was printed on the paper, but he figured it was important enough to make his mother mad. He quickly stuffed it in his pocket as he exited the hospital with Rin by his side.

* * *

_Mommy, mommy, I have something to tell you. Today's my ninth birthday! It's also Rin's birthday too. Aren't you happy? I want to come see you, so I can show you how much I've grown. I forgot to tell Rin that I was coming to visit. I'm sorry, but it's okay, I'll just tell the pretty nurse to call the house after I see you. Then when Rin gets here, we can all have a party in your room! Look, I even brought some-_

_"How could you betray me?!" My mommy was screaming. Why was she screaming? What was she talking about? I don't want my mommy to be mad. The doctor says it's bad for her to be mad when she's sick. He said that it'll make her feel worse. I don't want mommy to be_ _angry. __I want her to get better, not worse. **Mommy, why aren't you happy?**_

Akira peered through the slightly cracked doorway of his mother's hospital room. Large, curious eyes glanced through and found his parents, both in tense positions. His mother was propped up on the bed as usual, but her brows were deeply furrowed in agitation. Her beautiful, dark, brown eyes stared into his father's golden ones. His father was somewhat crouched over her, as if he was trying to tower her. His eyes were narrowed, creating a more malicious complexion, matching his pitch black locks that were usually perfectly combed down. This time, however, Akira could spot random hairs sticking out of that smooth head. His mother always had the darkest, and deepest shade of amethyst hair. He was glad that he had the same color, except it was lighter. Rin's was the same shade as their mother's, though. Her long, silky tendrils were splayed out all over her bed, creating a web-like design.

His father's eyes drooped, suddenly giving him a sad look. They bored into her big brown ones as he leaned his head closer to hers. Akira heard him whisper something into her ear before he spotted his mother's eyes widen. It was only for a brief moment before tears started streaming down her cheeks. She hoarsely whispered something back at him before his father gently padded her down back on the bed. He leaned his head closer, once again, and said a couple words before he pulled a syringe from his coat pocket. Silently, he injected her with the clear substance, and shortly after, she closed her eyes.

His father dumped the syringe in the trash can, and began walking towards the door. As he inched closer, Akira backed away from him from instinct. He was never extremely close to his own father, as he was always busy working. Even though he usually shied away from his father, he now felt like he had to get as far away as possible from this man. Akira staggered backwards and fell on the ground, wide-eyed at his father's incoming presence. He felt petrified as he sat on the cold tiles, awaiting for the moment his father appeared behind that door. It slowly creaked open, uncovering wide eyes, but they immediately returned to his angry ones. They stared down at Akira, slightly giving him shivers.

"..Akira, what are you doing here?" His deep voice broke through the atmosphere.

"I-I was just coming to visit M-mommy.." His voice cracked as he shakily tried to stand up again. His father had always scared him with his intimidating presence.

His father paused for a moment before replying, "Well, Mommy's asleep right now, and she needs her beauty sleep. How about you visit her tomorrow? I'll take you home." He roughly grabbed Akira's arm, yanking him upwards before walking him towards the hospital exit. Akira craned his neck back to glance once more at his mother's room before he took his last step out of the hospital.

They walked silently together, Akira trying not to look straight at his father, and his father gripping his wrist tightly. They approached their house eventually as the sun grew to a vibrant red-orange. Rin stood on the front porch hugging her favorite porcelain doll tightly, staring through watery eyes.

"W-where were you, Akira?" She managed between her sobbing.

"Sorry Rin, I went to go visit Mommy..." his voice drifted off as he looked away.

"You left me.. I was so scared..!" Her whispers turned into yells as she hugged her doll tighter and her cheeks grew redder. Akira briefly glanced at her before drooping his head towards the ground as he entered inside the house with his father. Rin stared, confused at her brother who would never simply walk away from her without even turning his head back. She followed behind the two intently, committed on finding what was wrong with him. The second her father left to his personal work-space as usual, she quickly gripped Akira's shoulder from behind and yanked him back, both stumbling from the struggle.

"Wha-" he gasped for air as he toiled underneath the weight of his sister.

"What's wrong, Akira?" Her golden eyes bored into his as her countenance wore a nonplussed expression.

"Nothing's wrong." His head turned to the side as his eyes tried to advert hers.

"No, something's wrong, I know it." Her eyes narrowed further. "Why are you hiding something from me?" Her brows lifted upwards, giving her a sad look.

"...I don't want you to be sad like Mommy." He finally admitted. Rin paused for a moment.

"What do you mean?" One brow quirked upward in confusion.

"I didn't get to talk to her, but Mommy looked.. sad." His eyes stared straight into Rin's as they looked for a hint of reassurance. He didn't find any.

"Why was Mommy sad?"

"I don't know, but Dad was with her." Rin froze. Akira continued, "They kept on whispering weird things to each other."

A brief silence overwhelmed them until Rin broke it with, "He's not my Daddy."

Akira widened his eyes in confusion.

"What do you mean?"

"Daddies aren't supposed to act like him," she continued, "other people's Daddies are so much nicer." Rin narrowed her eyes and scrunched her brows. "What did they whisper to each other about?"

Akira paused for a moment to think, "..I couldn't hear it all because they were so quiet, but they were talking about some weird stuff."

"Like what?"

"Like how Daddy kept on telling Mommy to 'rest in peace'. What does that even mean?"

"Isn't that just another way to say goodnight to Mommy?"

"..Maybe. But I don't know, it just doesn't feel right." Akira scratched the back of his head, staring into space as he pondered Rin's theory.

Rin shook her head and stretched her hand towards Akira, "Well, we can find out for sure when we ask Mommy tomorrow! I'm sure she'll tell us what it means," she dragged his wrist towards her as she ran for the front door, "In the meantime, we can go play at the field since _he's _not watching us right now!"

Akira resisted for a brief moment before he finally gave in, "..Yeah, okay."

* * *

_It's really dark and wet. I don't like being in dark and wet places, but everyone is making me stay here. I don't want to be here. It's scary. I see Mommy, but her eyes are closed. She won't wake up no matter how loud I yell at her. Everyone's wearing black. Why does everyone look so sad? Maybe it's the rain that makes them look like they're crying. But why is Mommy outside? The doctor said she shouldn't go outside when she's sick. I don't want her to get worse. I think she's already gotten worse because everyone's talking to her but she's not opening her eyes. She's not moving. I hear whispers everywhere and they're hurting my head._

_"Poor children, now they're motherless."_

_"I truly do feel sorry for them."_

_"It'll be hard on him now that he has to take care of two kids."_

_"Look at those insolent brats. They don't even know what's going on."_

_"Shush! They're too young to understand death!"_

_"Well, they can't stay ignorant forever."_

_Why is everyone looking at us? They're giving us a sad look. Why are they doing that? Daddy keeps on trying to hold Rin's and my hand. Doesn't he know that neither of us likes him? I keep on trying to drag Rin over to Mommy so we can both wake her up, but Rin keeps on pulling me back. She told me not to touch Mommy. Why not? What's wrong with touching my Mommy? **What's going on**_** _here?_**_ **Mommy, hurry and wake up! They're going to close your bed up! ** __  
_

_The big bed that Mommy was sleeping in was put into the ground. I think I finally know what's going on._

_"Mommy is dead...isn't she?"_

_Rin was crying. I think I was too, even though I promised her I wouldn't. This would mean that I would never see Mommy again. I'd never get to hug her and tell her everything that I did for the day. I'd never get to pet her long pretty purple hair again. __I'd never get to eat another one of her lunches again. _I'd never hear her tell me how much she loves me no matter how much I cried.

Hot streaming tears flowed from Akira's eyes as he stared at the ground, shell shocked.

* * *

_"Hey, it's not moving."_

_"Stop! Don't poke it with a stick, Akira!"_

_"Why not? I'm just trying to wake it up."_

_"Because I think it's dead."_

_"Dead?"_

_"Yeah, it's when things stop moving."_

_"So it's asleep?"_

_"Well, I guess. They just won't wake up anymore."_

_"Well, what do we do?"_

_"I think.. we're supposed to put it in the ground or something."_

_"What? Why?"_

_"I don't know, but it's just what I've seen people do when something dies."_

_"Oh, okay."_

* * *

_Mommy was dead. She can't be dead. I just saw her yesterday! She was moving and breathing and.. **alive.** She was until Daddy came. Daddy. I never trusted him, and he never trusted me. Occasionally I'd see him in a week, but he's usually busy. He always looked at me with a stern face, like he regretted me. I didn't need him either. It was Mommy who took care of me and Rin. I wouldn't care if Daddy died. I wish it was Daddy who died instead. I told Rin of this, and she slapped me. That was the first time she had ever slapped me, and it hurt. It hurt more than any other bruise or cut I've ever gotten. I haven't talked to Rin after the funeral. I've stayed in my room the whole time, sitting on my bed. I won't even let Rin in here. Every now and then, I would hear her turn the knob a couple of times, finding that it was still locked and she'd try to talk to me. She'd try to convince me that I needed someone, that I needed a hug. Lies. I just wanted to be alone. Something inside me hurt, and it hurt worse than ever. For hours on end, I was on the brink of just collapsing and crying myself to sleep. I wouldn't let that happen. I promised Rin that I would never cry again, that I'd be her knight in shining armor. And here I was, curled up in a ball and creating a barrier around myself, keeping others out. I was pathetic._

* * *

_A month has passed, and my condition didn't get any better. Neither did Rin's. It was convenient that we lived in a mansion, because our Father gave us separate rooms._

_I never talked to her or anyone for that matter. At school, we'd pass each other by in the hallways, as if we were strangers. Although, every time, it would hurt me little by little inside. I felt that if I talked to her, I would break into tears and look like a fool._

_Everyone knew what happened to our Mother. It wasn't on the news, but we were the 'rich kids'. Everyone knew what goes on in the lives of the rich kids. Every time I looked at anyone, they would give me a sad look. I hated that look. They looked down on us. As if they knew what we were going through._

_I began to start a lot of fights. I was sent to the principal's office on a daily basis. I'd never been taunted or made fun of before. I don't understand why they're starting it now._

_I've gotten a lot more sensitive too. Anytime I hear someone talk about me or Rin, I'd hit them. I didn't want people feeling sorry for us. I didn't need their pity. The only thing that I wanted was my mother back. I grew further and further away from Rin and my father as day by day passed. I kept to myself most of the time, locked in my room or sitting beneath the big oak tree that grew in the empty field. I couldn't find any happiness in my life anymore. It was as if a big chunk was ripped out, leaving it broken and useless. I felt so worthless. I was there when it happened. Why didn't I do anything? Why did I stay back and watch? Why am I so weak? It was always Rin that protected me. She was always the one who would tell me that I was strong. That I was her knight in shining armor. I didn't believe her the first few times but eventually, I got around to it. For a while, it worked. Until we lost our mother._

_That was the crack that gradually grew bigger and bigger until everything crumbled to pieces. Not one tear was shed. The pain was too great for tears. I became an empty shell of what I used to be. Conversations immediately became boring and dull, and nothing ever motivated me to leave my room._

* * *

_My father walked me home today.. again. I hate him. No one believed me when I told the truth._

_"My Daddy was the one who killed her!"_

_"Silence, child. Don't go yelling nonsense to people."_

_"How rude, he's your father, you know?"_

_"How could you ever point your fingers at your father? He's the one who raised you!"_

_Trash. They're all trash. The only one who believed me was Rin. She didn't like Daddy very much either. She knows that he would be willing to do those kinds of things. After all, he's trash. Just like them._

* * *

The clicking of their heels on the smooth, pavement floor was the only sound heard from the two. Not one word was spoken as they walked down their street, both heads full of malicious thoughts.

As soon as they reached their home, Akira ran inside, slipped off his shoes and hurried off to his bedroom. A loud _click _echoed throughout the grandiose house and everyone knew that Akira had locked his room. Once inside his dark quarters, he slipped into his bed sheets and gently laid his head on his pillow. Gleaming, golden orbs bored into the ceiling. Thoughts raced through his mind as hours passed by slowly. For a while, he had noticed that a faint scent of smoke and ash crept into his room, though he had given it no attention. ..Until it was too late.

Now, he could see the smoke seep through the cracks in his door. Slowly, the suffocating gas crept into his room. Akira was in panic mode, as he knew that this wasn't any ordinary cooking hazard from Rin. It was a fire, and it was big. Though, how could it have started? He quickly brushed the question away and immediately ran for the doorknob and twisted it, only to find it locked. How could it be locked? He knew that it could only be locked from the inside, so how..? The doorknob's heat was escalating and eventually it began to burn his hand. He hissed as he quickly retracted his hand away.

An idea of a different approach entered his mind. He stepped back until his back touched the wall on the opposite side of the door. Then he ran with force. He rammed himself against the door in hopes to break it. A few tries later and he was exhausted, resorting to desperate pants. Pounding on the door and screaming cries of help proved no better.

Running out of ideas, he looked towards the closed window and concluded that it would be his only solution. He sprinted towards the cool glass and began to fumble with the lock. It was stiff and immobile from years of age. Dust covered it from never being used. His fingers wrapped around the thin sliver of metal, but he could not twist it. His breath hitched as a loud thump echoed in his ears as something heavy fell to the ground. His breathing became more desperate as sweat trickled down his brow. It wasn't long before he'd run out of air as he could see smoke rising from the bottom of his door.

Quickly, he grabbed the nearest object and rammed it into the glass. He continued pounding the desk lamp into the window and eventually, he could spy a crack in the glass. With more effort now, he slammed the lamp one last time. As soon as it hit the window, the lamp instantly shattered into pieces. Bloody palms held the now porcelain shards. The window did not break. He instantly fell to his knees and tears flooded through.

That's when he heard the blood curdling scream.

* * *

_What was that? That sounded like Rin. Where is she? I haven't seen her all day. Is she in the fire too? I have to save her. That's the only way to prove myself now. To prove that I can be of use to someone. Where is she? I have to find her.. but I can't get out of this damned room. Hurry. Hurry. Someone.. **help..**_

* * *

_I can't breathe. I can't see anything. All I smell is smoke and ash. I can feel the fire at my door. I can't move any longer. My bed is so warm. I'm so.. tired..._

* * *

_Can I just lay here? Can I just lay here and do nothing? I really want to. I want this to be over soon. My chest hurts. Breathing hurts. Opening my eyes hurts. Everything hurts. Where's Rin? I hope she's safe. ..because I'm not._

* * *

_I can see a lot of reds and oranges. It's really hot in here. I also hear a lot of screaming. Is that Rin? It sounds like a lot of people though._

_My shoulder really hurts for some reason. I can barely feel it, but it hurts. When I opened my eyes again, I found a bunch of reds and oranges surrounding me. I want this to be all over soon.._

* * *

_Someone.._

_.._

_Anyone.._

_.._

_**Help me.**_

* * *

**Well, there's a bonus chapter for you. Any questions about this abrupt cut off may or may not be answered in later chapters. Sorry my updates have been getting slower and slower. There are just so many new ideas jumbling in my mind that I have troubles picking which part should happen next. If you guys were curious, this was SUPPOSED to be the original Chapter 6, but it had too much OC stuff so I changed it to a bonus chappy. :D Read it if you want, I'd really appreciate it if you could, but I'd understand if you're not interested. After all, this _is_ a SakuraxItachi fanfic. (; Anyway, hope you enjoyed this little extra.**


	7. Chapter 6: Blood Stained Hands

**Blossoms Encounter Roses**

**Chapter 6**

**- Blood Stained Hands**

* * *

"Are you going to save him?" Itachi's simple question echoed through her ears. Sakura could feel his silent gaze bore into her back. She knew the answer, but she wasn't sure whether she wanted to say it out loud. There was a long pause before she heard footsteps amble towards her. He was obviously awaiting a response from her.

"..Well?" His final word indicated that he didn't wish to wait any longer.

"..I can't," This earned a nonplussed look from Itachi.

"Why not?"

"There's no way.."

"What is his chance of surviving?"

She paused. She knew that he _did _have a chance, but it was barely enough.

"About 7% now."

"Perform the surgery anyway."

"But-"

"What is the problem?"

"I don't have enough chakra!"

Deep in thought, he lifted his hand to his chin.

"Do you want to save him or not?"

"..I do," She whispered.

"Then perform the surgery."

Sighing, she lifted her pale hands to Akira's chest and a faint green glow appeared. As a medic ninja, it was her _duty _to save others' lives. She wasn't meant to destroy them. That was all that mattered to her now. Her chakra levels were now dangerously low to the point of where if she strained herself any longer it might affect her health. Her sight was becoming blurred and her body began swaying towards the earthy floor. She was losing chakra fast. This was a danger point and if she pushed herself any further, she might lose consciousness and fail the surgery.

Sweat trickled down Sakura's pale face as she kept all her concentration focused on the faint green glow emanating from her palms; the same green glow that was slowly sucking up the last drops of her energy. She could feel herself beginning to waste away from lack of chakra. Her body continued swaying from dizziness and her blurred vision grew worse. The last thing emerald eyes found were red ones before everything went black.

* * *

Everyone recognized Itachi as the cold-blooded ninja who murdered his entire family excluding his younger brother. Just the sight of him would scare most people to death in fear of their lives. Though, this was simply the outcome of the rumors that had built up over the years. Yes, all the facts were true, but the public was missing pieces of the puzzle that could only be found in his memories. They were blockaded from the inside out, a wall to keep others out. As each year passes, it grows stronger and thicker, only to prove its purpose. Then, _she _came.

She wasn't afraid in the least. As days passed spending time with her, he rediscovered what it was like to _feel._ He felt the wall slowly breaking down. He was opening himself up again, and he felt.. _different._ All the years of isolation, seclusion, solitude.. He had become accustomed to it. It felt like company when no one was in the room. Now, he knew what _real _company meant. It had forced him to think not only about himself but for _her_ as well. It was strange how every thought or action he made, he'd also have to think of how she'd react to it.

Now, he was going out of his way for someone else. Someone who had tried to assassinate him. Was he crazy? He wasn't sure anymore. Though, in some deep part of his mind, he believed that he would be able to prove all the rumors wrong. To finally be welcomed back to the village he risked his life for. It was a nice thought even if he knew it wasn't enough. Enough to prove his innocence. But.. to who? There weren't any ties between him and the villagers. They probably never even knew he existed. There was no reason for him to earn their respect. Then why has he been trying so hard to prove his innocence through subtle actions?

Steady cold hands held a faint green glow, barely pulsating. Dark crimson eyes narrowed as the glow flickered for a split second. Killing a life wasn't difficult. At times, it was strenuous _not _kill one. Now, the real challenge was restoring one. How could one hold something so fragile and brittle? Eyeing the frail green glow, Itachi felt his energy slowly seeping out of him. At first, it had startled him for a moment at the unsteady pace it was draining his chakra, but eventually, he had gotten somewhat quaint with the strange aura. This new skill that he had learned just merely seconds ago was probably the most difficult power he had ever acquired.

It wasn't something you could control. It pulsated with life, as if it had its own mind and feelings. It was quite different than the other skills that Itachi had ever dealt with. This one needed your full attention or it would wilt and die within a second. It was as if it needed special care for it to grow into something extraordinary. Like a flower, he contemplated. The more concentration he put into it, the deeper the shade of green it would turn. He would also notice the healing process would quicken too. It was so strange and new.. it could almost be considered exhilarating.

He could feel himself mending the broken bones and torn tissues of Akira's ribs and lungs. It was comforting, knowing that there was such a power like this. Not all ninjas were meant for violence and war. His lips unconsciously curved upwards slightly. This was something that he would have been content with.

* * *

Through a few strenuous minutes of constant work, Itachi's gaze wandered over towards the life-less body of the unconscious kunoichi. Her limp figure laid on the earthy floor where Itachi had left her. She had not moved since then. Her bright pink tresses laid on the ground in tangles. Dirt encompassed her pale cheeks, giving her a filthy look. She looked so helpless and unprotected. In some way, it gave Itachi a strange, distressing feeling. He quickly returned his gaze to the patient in front of him only to discover empty palms.

Itachi's eyes widened immediately. When did the green glow disappear? How long was it like that? Instantly, his head flew to Akira's chest, desperate to hear a pulse. What felt like minutes, a few seconds passed without sound. There was no pump or beat of a heart. A drop of sweat trickled down Itachi's cheek. This could not be possible. He had only lifted his chakra for only a brief moment. Half a minute at most. How could there be no pulse? To be absolutely sure of whether death had really taken over, the faint green glow appeared once again to hover against Akira's life-less chest. Itachi closed his eyes for better concentration and pleaded for any sign of movement within the body. Nothing. He found nothing. The blood was simply fluid in his veins. It was like stilled water. His lungs were still broken and unrepaired. Blood was seeping out of them like they were leaking. And his heart.. It was silent. Too silent.

Charcoal eyes reopened to find a cold body lying beside him. Merely minutes had passed and the boy was already beginning to turn an unnatural pale. Itachi closed his eyes as he placed a palm on Akira's forehead gently. A moment of silence was made before he abruptly pulled Akira into a more fitting position. Both hands clenched together on his chest, eyes closed, and a content expression on his face. He laid beside his sleeping sister who would find him shortly after regaining consciousness.

Itachi's gaze eventually spotted the pink-haired kunoichi once again. She was still in her original disheveled state. What would he tell her now? That he had failed at what he attempted to accomplish? Although he had not remembered making any promises to her, it was still a distressing matter. It was _his_ idea to continue the surgery, yet the whole time he knew that Akira's chance of survival was minuscule. He wanted to believe that it was not his fault for Akira's death, but he knew that wasn't true. It was when _he _was in charge that Akira had silently passed away.

* * *

Bringing his fingers to rub his temples in stress, Itachi slowly ambled over to where Sakura lay. Why was it so important that Akira had lived? He served no purpose to Itachi.

He crouched lower and slipped his fingers beneath her knees and upper back. He lifted her without fail and began walking away from the scene. As he walked, thoughts crowded his mind.

Maybe he was destined to kill. Everywhere he goes, blood is shed. It mattered little to whether he was trying to save or kill a life. Someone always died. Throughout all the years of isolation, Itachi has learned not to become too close to others. It only brought despair and agony. He inclined his head to catch a glimpse of the girl sleeping in his arms. She was so.. innocent. Too innocent. Although she was an official shinobi by law, she had yet to experience the _real _ninja world. The bloodshed, the wars, ..the deaths. So why was he protecting her from that? Why was he treating her as if she were a small child? Once again, the thought of Sasuke struck his mind.

Something in his chest began aching. He had been stressing over things too much again. It wasn't good for his health. All he needed to do now was to get Sakura as far away as possible from the two shinobis. He wouldn't let her experience yet _another _death caused by him. It seemed to affect her emotional state, and he couldn't allow that.

Quickening his pace, Itachi flew through the rows and rows of rose bushes. They seemed endless yet calming. The cold night air blew across his cheeks, giving him a cool refreshing breeze. His long onyx hair followed recklessly behind him. Hours passed without a break and eventually, his eyes began drooping lower and lower the longer he ran. By that time, Itachi paid little attention to his surroundings. Enveloped in the trees of a forest, he continued his midnight sprint.

Several hours more, his pace slowed and he was forced to resort to an unsteady amble. He collapsed shortly after from exerting the rest of his chakra reserves. It wasn't a small job to perform a healing. It really took enormous amounts of chakra to restore someone back to health.

A dark figure laid on the grassy floor beside him, still unconscious. She must have _really _exhausted herself this time.

Hopefully, she hadn't exerted herself too much. Patting her cheeks gently, he prayed for a response. Not a single grunt or mumble was heard, but he could sense a twitch of a finger. Good. She was not completely unconscious.

He tilted his head upwards towards the navy blue night sky through blurred vision. A cool breeze blew through the ruffles of his hair and drew him to a slight shiver. He had no clothes other than the fishnet shirt that he always wore, and the baggy ninja pants that were the usual for any shinobi. He remembered leaving his cloak back where the cave was and figured that there was no way he would be able to retrieve it now. Though, he had no right to wear it now. It did not belong to him the day he left the organization. He has suffered colder nights than this anyway, he reassured himself.

Minutes passed and eyes became droopy. Itachi's thoughts became jumbled with each other, and his lack of energy pleaded for some well-needed rest. Slowly, he closed his faded charcoal eyes and the wild chirping of the crickets consumed the two. Night had taken its toll.

* * *

"Hm..? What's this?"

"What's what?"

"This," a member of the group spoke, "there's two people lying here in the middle of nowhere."

"What?"

"Come here," One waved his hand to motion for the others to follow him.

"Woah, who are these guys?"

"I don't know, but one of them looks injured."

"We should take them back," another suggested.

"Okay, I'll take the girl."

"_Of course,_" one rolled his eyes.

"What?"

"You _always _take the girl," complained a boy from the back.

"Cause' you're too shy to!"

"No I'm not!"

"Yes you are-"

"Stop wasting time. We need to get them to a hospital," interrupted the group leader.

"But I wanted to catch some fireflies tonight!" whined a boy.

"Well, as of right now, these people are our first priority."

By the wave of his command, the group headed back in the direction of their hometown.

* * *

Light seeped through her eyelids, forcing them open. She immediately took notice that she was on a bed. A familiar one in particular. She could never forget the feeling of those old-fashioned hospital beds. The hard yet sponge-y mattresses and the paper thin sheets they offered. It was all too recognizable. After all, she's worked in a hospital ever since she went to study under Tsunade-Shishou.

Sakura began to sit upright on the bed. Why was she in a hospital? How did she get here? The last thing she remembered was healing Akira-

"Hnn!" Her back _ached. _ She felt so tired and dehydrated. What happened when she fell unconscious?

Her gaze wandered around the pristine white room before she spotted another person occupying the bed next to her. She could tell that whoever it was, was fast asleep. That was strange. Why were there two beds in one room? She crawled from her bed to take a better peek at the slumbering patient only to discover a long onyx pony tail that cascaded down and fell in tangles upon the sheets. And that all-too-familiar unblemished complexion excluding the deep crevasses beneath his eyes.

What was Itachi doing here? '_I would think that he would become reprimanded the second he set foot in any public building without a disguise._' Curious emerald eyes stared at him for some time before a loud click at the door interrupted her trance.

A nurse clad in white stepped in silently. She carried the usual metal tray that clanged anytime it was touched. She set it down beside Sakura's bedside table and began the normal conversation between patients.

"You're feeling better," she smiled.

"..Yes, um," Sakura began.

"Is there anything I can do for you?" the nurse asked the all-too-common question.

"There is," Sakura answered. "I don't seem to recall any memories of arriving at this hospital."

"Oh, I was going to explain that to you! You see, a group of young men came in late last night and asked us to check you two for any serious injuries," she paused, "Strange.. they said that they had found you two in the middle of a forest at around midnight."

"..A group of young men..?" she whispered to herself.

"Good thing is, is that we weren't able to find any serious injuries on you two. You just need to rest a bit more and regain your strength," the nurse continued.

"Here's a glass of water and some food. Go ahead and help yourself," she gestured to the tray on the table, "Ring this if you need any assistance," she handed Sakura a bell and left the room. Silence filled the atmosphere shortly after.

Sakura brought the tray to her lap and eyed the contents of her meal. There were two plates, supposing that one was for Itachi. Each held the same contents. A glass of water, a few pieces of toast, two fried eggs, and an apple.

Sakura immediately swallowed the glass of water and began wolfing down her toast and eggs. She was starving. Just mere minutes later, she began crunching down on her apple and looking around the room suspiciously. Just exactly _how _did she get here? It vexed her how she remembered practically nothing. Her memory was a blank from when she was healing Akira and now. She didn't even know how long she was unconscious! And how did Itachi and her end up in the middle of a forest? She clearly remembered being stranded in the bushels of never-ending roses. Drawing her fingers to her temples, a small green glow formed at the tips. Her head hurt, and she had no idea where she was right now. Too many questions were left unanswered.

A low grunt was heard beside her and her head instantly flew to the source of the noise. Shuffling of the sheets was enough to convince Sakura that Itachi was now awake.

Lifting a hand over his brow, Itachi stared right into the eyes of a tempered woman.

"What're we doing here?" questioned Sakura as she handed him the other plate of food.

He took it and looked around the room in confusion.

"..I do not know."

"What?"

"I do not remember arriving at any hospital."

"Then tell me everything you _do _remember."

Itachi paused. He couldn't tell her of the certain incident involving death. Instead, he decided to avoid the question by eating.

Loud crunches of crumbling toast broke the tense silence.

"Don't ignore the question," Sakura spat.

"I have nothing to tell," retorted Itachi.

"Yes you do, I know you do!"

"Please refrain from yelling."

"You're ignoring the question again," grumbled Sakura.

"As I have said, I have nothing to tell you."

Sighing, Sakura retreated back to her original position on the bed. All that was heard were crunches of food being consumed.

A brief silence and Sakura rebounded with another question. This time, in a hushed tone.

"..What happened to Akira?"

A moment's hesitation and Itachi returned it with, "That is of no concern to you."

He would not allow her to discover the outcome of that incident.

"Why?" Simple as the question was, it meant much more. _Why _didn't he let her know what happened? _Why _did he keep everything so secretive? _Why _couldn't she be useful? _Why _did he make her feel so ignorant?

Itachi persisted on devouring his food in silence. He made no move to continue the conversation.

"Fine," Sakura concluded. "since you won't tell me anything, I'm leaving."

"You have not been permitted to leave."

"Oh yeah? Watch me."

She brushed her sheets aside and stepped on the cold tiled floor with bare feet. Stumbling a bit as she walked, she ambled towards the door. Itachi watched casually until her hand reached the doorknob.

"You do not have my permission to leave."

"Are you going to stop me?"

A long pause settled between them. Itachi and Sakura both knew that he was too weak to fight back anyone in his state.

"That's what I thought."

With that, Sakura swiftly left the room. The creaking of the door slowly closing on its hinges was the last sound he heard from her.

* * *

The padding of her bare feet down the long hallways of the hospital crowded her thoughts. He was so infuriating! Why did he keep everything a secret from her? She had the right to know things. She was practically an adult now.

Eventually she reached the front desk where the receptionist sat nonplussed.

"I would like to request for the return of my clothes, please."

"Ma'am, are you sure-"

"I need to leave," Sakura interrupted.

The receptionist eyed Sakura suspiciously.

Sakura stared back defiantly.

"Well, where's the paper?"

"What paper?"

"The paper to get you outta here."

Sakura cursed under her breath.

A nearby nurse noticed Sakura wearing the normal patient clothes for someone who should be in bed. She immediately walked over to see what the commotion was about.

"What's going on over here?"

"Well, this young woman keeps requesting to leave," replied the receptionist.

The nurse eyed Sakura carefully before hooking a hand on her shoulder and smiling, "Miss, I'll escort you back to your room."

"What? No, I'm not planning on staying here."

"You need to regain your strength, you've exhausted yourself."

"But I'm fine, I can take care of myself," Sakura insisted.

"No, you need to rest."

This time, the nurse forcefully pulled Sakura with her down the long hallways once again. Reluctant to follow, Sakura fought back only to find the nurse's grip to become tighter. If she was at her full strength, she would be able to wrench herself away easily. Since when did she become so weak that she could succumb to a simple civilian?

Sakura refused to return to her room and continued insisting that she should be released. She began kicking and biting, screaming that she had no freedom. The nurse losing control over Sakura, was forced to resort to the emergency syringe that she always kept with her. Swiftly pulling it out of her pocket, she uncapped the needle and injected it into Sakura's arm. Shortly after, Sakura's vision became blurred and her pace unsteady. Stumbling down the hallway, Sakura was constantly slipping in and out of consciousness. The nurse carried Sakura the rest of the way and abruptly barged into her room.

Itachi's gaze immediately saw the life-less figure of a pink-haired girl hanging loosely across a nurse's shoulders. The nurse carefully set her back down on her bed and explained to Itachi, "She insisted on leaving when she was still weak, so I had to resort to putting her to sleep."

"Watch over her for me and make sure she doesn't run wild again, okay?"

Itachi nodded once in agreement and the nurse left the room with a sigh. Itachi loomed over the sleeping Sakura and brushed a few strands of hair away from her face. His palm rested gently on her unblemished cheek. Although Itachi was weak, she was _weaker._ She had exhausted every last drop of her chakra and still persisted that she was fine. He ran his fingers through her pink tresses. She probably would have gotten herself killed if it wasn't for the nurse. She was too weak to be out and about. Not to mention her cranky attitude. Itachi breathed out a sigh and returned to his side of the room.

* * *

Hours passed by slowly in the quiet room. Sakura did not awake yet and Itachi stared into the opposing wall with a blank face. Every now and then, a strange feeling overcame Itachi as if someone were watching him. No, he _knew _that someone had been watching him. His senses could not fail him. The first few times, he had simply brushed it off, supposing that they were just the hospital staff making their regular checks. Then, as night emerged, they came more frequent. He was aware of this, but did nothing as to not arouse suspicions. He had not yet regained all of his strength, leaving him vulnerable to capable shinobis.

More had gathered. There were roughly 7 or 8 of them, and they were shinobis. He could sense their chakra signatures, and they were far more advanced than a regular civilian. Narrowing crimson eyes, Itachi looked around the room suspiciously. They were ready to attack any second now. He had to be prepared, yet look as if he suspected nothing. His hand submerged under the sheets and groped around for any spare kunai to defend himself with. He found none. The hospital staff must have confiscated it. He would have to resort to using the objects around the room for defense.

He was ready. And apparently, so were they.

3 men barged in the door, breaking it down. Itachi narrowed his eyes and turned himself to face them.

"Itachi Uchiha," one spoke, "you are hereby under arrest."

Itachi began to stand up from his bed when two armored shinobi grappled him from the back, restraining him. Another held a kunai to his neck, the cold metal pressing against his pressure point. Itachi kept his still position with expressionless charcoal eyes. It was best not to struggle with highly trained shinobis. Though, he knew these people were not the military force. Their clothing was too unprofessional and their plan was disorganized. Though, their skills were not lacking. He could tell that they were sharp enough to catch any hint of an attack on them.

_Because _they were not the military force, Itachi decided to fight back. He did not know where these people would take him, and if he would ever escape. As a man walked forward, closer to the restrained Itachi, a leg flew up and grinded against his chin. His neck immediately snapped back as he fell to the floor, his face a bloody mess. His painful screams began the start of the battle.

The man holding the kunai to his throat drove it deeper, penetrating the skin. Blood seeped through and a groan was heard from Itachi as he lifted his leg once more to kick the man behind him. A loud crack was heard when his foot collided with a man's vulnerable knee. Cries of agony were made and more men came at Itachi in greater numbers.

They now surrounded him, flashing their weapons in the dark. He could hear faint clangs and shuffles. Various glints and shines were all that Itachi could see in the dark room.

"Now you've made us resort to violence," the apparent leader spoke before Itachi was barraged by the large group.

* * *

Silent through the dark, the group crept out the door and down the hallways, out into the night. Little did they know, they had left a trail of blood. Blood that was not theirs.

* * *

**Okay, now here's the REAL Chapter 6. :D Hope you guys enjoy it. I don't have much to say other than HAPPY LATE NEW YEAR'S! Have a good twenty-thirteen!**


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